Some overnight rain and scattered showers Friday morning, Feb. 9, will be followed by clear skies and temperatures will begin to warm up.

In the valleys, some cleanup continues following the days-long storm that saw some areas break daily rainfall records and left a soggy mess in its wake.

San Gabriel Mountains residents were digging out from the fresh blanket of snow Thursday, Feb. 8, near Wrightwood, as the crisp, clear day called many outdoors.

But there are warmer days ahead, NWS says.

By midweek, temperatures in the valleys will reach the mid- to high-60s. Nights will be cold though, as forecasted temperatures will be in the mid 30s to low 40s.

Along the coast, the sun will be shining with temperatures in the low 60s for the highs and an evening cool down in the 40s.

Crisp and clear days will stick around in the mountain communities, with highs in the 30s and 40s, while overnight lows drop into the teens and 20s.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed real estate risk measurements by CoreLogic, which tells us that 1.1 million residential structures – single-family or multifamily – in the six-county region have at least a moderate risk of suffering damage from flash floods. That hazard is defined as “when precipitation rates are greater than the speed at which water drains into the ground surface.”

That means flooding dangers are faced by 21% of all local housing, according to this math.

Flash flooding is a particularly urban risk because abnormally large rainfalls often have nowhere to go in heavily concreted landscapes. Streets can overflow with rain, creating damage much like a creek could. Plus, the region’s hilly terrains create additional flood risks.

The weather gurus say such storms will be more frequent as we grapple with climate change. Property owners also should be aware that it’s likely the typical home insurance policy does not cover this kind of damage. A separate flood policy is required.

Please note that the average local residence at risk would cost $454,000 per home to rebuild – assuming a flooded home was a complete loss. That adds up to a possible $487 billion replacement risk across the region.

So consider the odds: CoreLogic estimates that 305,224 of the Southern California homes facing flash flood hazards have elevated risk of damage – that’s 28%.

Ponder the flood danger by county, ranked by the number of homes with some level of danger …

Los Angeles: 420,585 residences are at risk (21% of all homes) with 27% of those properties in higher danger. Replacement costs of the homes at risk average $474,000 per home, or $199 billion countywide.

Riverside: 211,418 at risk (29% of homes) with 39% at higher danger. Replacement $452,000 per home or $96 billion.

San Bernardino: 156,987 at risk (27% of homes) with 31% at higher danger. Replacement $394,000 per home or $62 billion.

Orange: 122,372 at risk (16% of all homes) with 21% at higher danger. Replacement $487,000 per home or $60 billion.

San Diego: 120,482 at risk (15% of all homes) with 22% at higher danger. Replacement $422,000 per home or $51 billion.

Ventura: 41,771 at risk (19% of all homes) with 21% at higher danger. Replacement $486,000 per home or $20 billion.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

The discovery Tuesday of a woman dead beneath a fallen tree in her Sacramento County backyard brought the death toll for California’s recent series of storms to at least nine.

The body of the 63-year-old Fair Oaks woman was discovered after her employer requested a welfare check because she hadn’t shown up at work, the Sacramento County sheriff’s office said.

She was the fourth Northern California resident known to have been killed by a falling tree during the storms that started Jan. 31, the state’s Office of Emergency Services said.

The Los Angeles Times quoted the agency’s Brian Ferguson as saying there were nine storm-related deaths as of Tuesday:

• Four killed by falling trees.

• Three who died in car wrecks. Ferguson identified one of those as Feb. 1 in San Mateo County, but gave no specifics of two he said were in Southern California. According to news reports, fatal crashes in Yucaipa and Moreno Valley were apparently related to the storm.

• A man who drowned in the Tijuana River in San Diego.

• A patient in a hospice in San Luis Obispo County. Ferguson did not indicate how the death was storm-related.

In addition, a crash Tuesday afternoon near San Juan Bautista killed a passenger, a Castroville woman. The driver told the California Highway Patrol that he lost control after hitting standing water on Highway 156.

The map above shows the approximate locations of the fatalities noted by Ferguson; he did not specify that the Southern California car crashes were those in Yucaipa and Moreno Valley.

1/ Falling tree, Boulder Creek. Robert Brainard III, 45, was killed when a tree fell at about 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, on a home near Highway 9 and Bear Creek Road. Another resident was able to escape.

2/ Falling tree, Yuba City. David Gomes, 82, was found dead outside his home around 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4. A neighbor had last seen him around 3 p.m. and the large redwood was thought to have fallen around 5 p.m. Gomes may have been on a ladder trying to shore up the tree next to his house, investigators said.

3/ Falling tree, Carmichael. Chad Ensey, 41, was struck by a falling cypress at his home on Sunday, Feb. 4.

4/ Falling tree, Fair Oaks (no precise location given). A 63-year-old woman was found dead in her backyard on Tuesday, Feb. 6, after she failed to show up to work.

5/ Car crash, San Mateo County. A passenger was killed in a single-car crash around 6:40 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, on northbound Interstate 280 near the Trousdale exit. At the time, the CHP said it was uncertain if the crash was weather-related, but the OES’s Ferguson included it in the storm toll.

6/ Car crash into water, Yucaipa. A 69-year-old San Bernardino man died after his pickup truck veered off Interstate 10 and into a water-filled ditch around 2:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5.

7/ Car crash into water, Moreno Valley. A three-car collision around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, sent a pickup truck into a flood-control channel, and its driver — Isaac Piza, 25, of San Bernardino — was found dead after being swept 6 miles downstream. A driver of another car died at the scene, and three people were injured.

8/ Drowning, San Diego. An unidentified man seen face down in the Tijuana River was pulled out by rescue crews around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The San Diego County medical examiner listed the cause of death as drowning and said the man was a 61-year-old West African who had been among a group of undocumented travelers who crossed the border from Mexico on foot.

9/ San Luis Obispo County (no precise location given). The OES’s Ferguson gave no details beyond saying the death of a 90-year-old hospice patient was considered storm-related.

The OC Health Care Agency closed the area “due to the occurrence of multiple sewage spills that were caused by weather-impacted surges on sewer mains in areas of Los Angeles County that border Orange County,” according to a news alert sent out Wednesday afternoon.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the affected ocean water area will remain closed to swimming, surfing, and diving until the results of follow-up water quality monitoring meet acceptable standards,” officials said.

Earlier in the day, Seal Beach Marine Safety Chief Joe Bailey said he was told the closure was due to about 30,000 gallons of sewage coming from Coyote Creek, which feeds into the San Gabriel River, however the OC Health Care Agency did not specify where the suspected sewage was flowing from.

A final burst of rain for Southern California — then the storms are done

The spill was among several this week, including a 8 million gallons of raw sewage that got into the Dominguez Channel on Monday, Feb. 5.

Last week, two occurred in Long Beach – one with 38,000 gallons and a 20,000-gallon spill. There was also a 10,000-gallon spill into the Palos Verdes Peninsula area and more elsewhere.

The spills led to closures of the ocean in coastal areas, including Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro and all ocean water swimming areas in Long Beach, both closed until further notice.

Advisories by healthcare agencies in Orange and Los Angeles counties are advising people to stay out of the water for 72 hours following rain, especially near storm drains and river outlets.

“The elevated levels of bacteria can continue for a period of at least three days, depending upon the intensity of the rain and the volume of the runoff,” the Orange County Health Care Agency warns. “Swimmers should avoid coastal waters impacted by discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers, and beach users should avoid contact with any runoff on the beach during dry or wet weather conditions.”

After a few confused seconds, I realized that my whole apartment was without power. In fact, a blackout hit much of my neighborhood and lasted for the bulk of one winter night. It was a frustrating, though far from catastrophic, situation.

Still, the event left me wondering: In the age of connected devices and smart homes, how do we prepare ourselves for a power outage? 

It’s a reasonable concern. Power outages can be triggered by anything from planned maintenance to a car accident to extreme weather or a natural disaster. In most cases, though, it will catch you off guard. However, with a few supplies ready to access without fumbling in the dark, a blackout might be a little easier to manage. 

“The better prepared you can be before the power goes out, the better off you will be when it does go out,” says Bryan La Sota, an emergency management coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. 

La Sota says that having a plan is important, but also notes that every plan is going to be different. “It’s really each individual looking at their needs and then building their plan,” he says. “No two people, no two families are the same.”

And remember: You don’t have to rush to buy loads of emergency items at once.

“What we like to do in my household is we take it step by step,” says La Sota, explaining that this means picking up extra batteries on one shopping trip and perhaps a few emergency food items on the next. “By doing it in pieces like that, suddenly, we have this whole kit built and we never really notice the impact because everything was bought in really small increments.”

Where to start

“Take an inventory,” says La Sota. “Understand what you need, what you have, what you don’t have.”

One of the first things I noticed is that the very powerful flashlight in my home is rechargeable. It happened to be fully charged during the power outage, but I probably should get a couple of battery-operated ones as well. Thanks to the power outage, I get most of my news and listen to radio stations on my laptop. These all need power, so even a fully charged external battery might not be able to keep them running during a lengthy outage. I might need to figure out if the old boombox still works and re-up on batteries. 

For people with smart home items, there is more to consider. 

“Understand that you can still operate a lot of those manually,” says La Sota. Check your user manuals beforehand so that you know how to open the garage door without power. “Even smart key locks, a lot of them have a physical key as backup,” La Sota points out. If that’s the case for you, make sure your backup key is in a place where you have easy access to it. 

While there are benefits to using today’s tech-forward devices, it’s important to hang onto those old-school devices for backup. “Knowing what exists with the things you have but keeping redundant items that don’t require the same power or internet capabilities is always a good idea,” says La Sota. 

Flashlights are a good place to start. La Sota advises against lighting candles during a power outage. “You need a light source, but that’s where battery-powered items are the best option,” he says. “Burning an active flame is always just an unnecessary danger because you may forget about it. It could be knocked over.”

The radio will come in handy when you can’t rely on the internet or television stations for updates. La Sota suggests getting a battery-operated NOAA weather radio, which is available at varying price points and will tune you in to updates from National Weather Service, as well as information on other hazards or emergencies. A battery-operated AM/FM radio can be helpful too for keeping up on local news reports. 

When possible, pick up a few more battery-operated items as alternatives during a blackout. These can include small fans, reading lights and clocks. A few other useful items to keep in stock at home are heavy blankets and first aid supplies.

If you plan on adding a generator to your emergency kit, consider what kind is best for your home. La Sota says it’s also important to know the risks generators can pose and how to use them safely. A gas generator, he notes, should only be placed outside the home in an open-air environment. Using a generator indoors can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. 

“Be mindful that your solution isn’t creating another danger that you’re not thinking about,” says Sosa. 

How to handle medication

If you use medication that must be kept cool, La Sota says to check in with your doctor or pharmacist to find out how long it can go without being stored in the refrigerator. 

As for medical equipment, there may be help in times of a power outage.

“This is where it’s going to vary, depending on where an individual lives,” La Sota clarifies.

Contact your provider to see if there are programs available to provide assistance with medical equipment in the case of a power-related emergency. They might be part of a medical baseline or similar program, which also allows for additional electricity at homes where there is qualifying medical equipment. Your provider might also have a critical care battery backup program, which provides batteries to keep medical equipment charged during an outage. 

If you don’t have any personal medical concerns, but know someone who might, try to check in on them. In fact, La Sota recommends checking in with neighbors during power outages. “If you have elderly neighbors or you know people in your neighborhood have medical conditions or disabilities, that would be a good first step,” he says, “to check in on them and make sure that they’re doing okay and if they have any needs.”

Plus, when you check in with neighbors, you can compare notes if anyone has heard updates on when power will be restored or information on any services, like portable charging stations during a long outage, that might be available. 

Keeping your food safe

There are a few concerns with food safety during a power outage. Your refrigerator and freezer will stop working, which might lead to spoilage during longer outages. The FDA recommends keeping appliance thermometers in both the fridge and freezer so that you can monitor the temperature. It also recommends keeping ice cubes and frozen gel packs in the freezer so that you can move them to the fridge to keep items cool. 

Beyond these specific food safety issues, you might encounter other problems during a blackout. For one, you might not actually be able to cook anything without power. For another, the lack of electricity might impact your water supply. 

Essentially, you’ll want to have the same food and beverages on hand during a power outage that you would during an earthquake. Think non-perishables that can be prepared without heat, snacks like trail mix and granola bars and bottled water. If you’re a caffeine drinker, consider having some bottles of tea or cans of cold brew that don’t require refrigeration. 

Once the power is back, you’ll need to check the thermometers in the freezer and refrigerator. The best practice here is to follow the FDA guidelines to determine which items need to be discarded and which ones are still edible. 

A “recovery plan” is something that La Sota says people often overlook when planning for a power outage. Once you have power, you should check all of the devices in your home to see what is working as normal and what isn’t. Some things will need to be reset.

“We always recommend looking at the manufacturer instructions for those types of things,” he says. 

When you cleaned out the fridge and made sure that your home is working as it should, you can return to life as normal.  

National Weather Service forecasters said scattered showers were possible through Friday, but the rain should be totally clear for a nice, albeit chilly, weekend.

In a week, forecasters said, temperatures should be getting back to normal for this time of year, in the mid to upper 60s in many places.

Snow levels down to about 3,200 feet were possible for Los Angeles County, leaving open the chance for complications along the 5 Freeway in the Tejon Pass. Inland Empire mountain ranges were looking at snow levels of about 4,000 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Gonsalves said.

“It’s more rain than I’ve seen in the past 30 years,” said Dennis Hacela, 73, who has lived in Franklin Canyon, north of Beverly Hills, since 1987.

Hacela had been especially concerned about the storm after losing several eucalyptus trees in his backyard during heavy rainfall and strong winds in January 2023. The trees, standing about 70 feet high, were believed to be between 80 to 100 years old. While he felt better now that the bulk of the storm had passed, Hacela expressed concern over the increase in mud slides, which had not been an issue in the past.

“All in all, you have to be thankful for what didn’t happen, versus what actually did,” Hacela said.

Nearby in Beverly Crest, Wednesday’s sunshine gave Jill Shinefield, 58, a sense of relief.

“It’s a little nerve wracking,” said the 23-year veteran of the neighborhood. “We feel fortunate and lucky that we’re not against the hillside.”

A next-door neighbor’s house was yellow-tagged due to the mudslide, meaning residents could collect belongs but not live there for now.

Far east from those residents, Parkview Nursery in Riverside, predictably, had less customers than usual.

“The business has slowed down, we didn’t open up for a day actually because it was so slow,” said Tim Traver, 65, the owner.

“We have a bit of elevation here and are well-drained so the plants are not really affected by excess water,” he added. “What we are monitoring carefully is the morning temperatures.

“Usually after rainfall, the mornings end up cold, which can affect some plants,” Traver explained. “Until the temperature drops, we need to move plants like tomatoes inside. We are waiting until the morning warms up.”

Latest sewage spill closes ocean in Seal Beach

In Seal Beach on Wednesday, from the San Gabriel River to the Anaheim Bay breakwater, the beach was closed because of sewage flows. It was just the latest closure from a number of spills that have also shuttered beaches in Long Beach and San Pedro in recent days.

And a series of mudslides covered portions of Mulholland Drive in the Studio City area on Wednesday, between Skyline and Bowmont drives, forcing a lengthy closure of the popular canyon road and potentially endangering some exclusive hilltop homes.

Southern California’s continuous rainfall from Sunday through Tuesday led to high rainfall amounts: Bel-Air received more than 13 inches of rainfall and Woodland Hills wasn’t far behind at 12.62 as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to Weather Service data.

Lytle Creek in the San Bernardino Mountains received 14 inches, and in Orange County, Coto de Caza had received 7.40 inches as of 5 a.m. Wednesday.

In Los Angeles alone, city firefighters have responded to 520 mudslides and debris flows throughout the storm, and the city’s Public Works Department responded to 433 fallen trees and branches and more than 650 reports of potholes, city officials said on Wednesday. Firefighters also have rescued about 50 stranded motorists and swift-water teams performed five rescues.

Staff writers Laylan Connelly, Mona Darwish and Nelson Espinal and City News Service contributed to this report.

The nesting eagles are demonstrating “resilience extraordinaire,” according to Friends of Big Bear Valley, which monitors the nest and live streams the happenings there via two web cams.

In a social media post Tuesday, Feb. 6, the nonprofit says Jackie and her partner, Shadow, have developed a “beautiful rhythm of duty exchanges,” each taking turns rolling the three eggs and then settling in to keep them warm, before the most recent storm. At one point, Jackie took over as main caregiver and settled into the nest for 35 hours straight, the nonprofit said.

“She is built to handle this,” FOBBV wrote on Facebook. Jackie has “over 7,000 waterproof feathers to keep her dry (and no matter how wet she looks, she is dry under those outer feathers), plus downy feathers under that to keep her warm. When she stands up to roll the eggs, it’s obvious that they are dry and warm.”

This is Jackie’s first three-egg clutch, according to FOBBV. She delivered the third egg on Jan. 31, six days after the first egg arrived. Pip watch will begin in early March.

“As the storm is predicted to continue for another day, Jackie and Shadow know what they are doing,” the nonprofit said Tuesday. “The camera system, however, may go up and down a bit as the area and the communications systems get covered in snow.”

The break under a retaining wall along Sunset Avenue occurred during the early morning hours, leading a resident on Virginia Way about 100 yards below to call the city at 3 a.m.

“I started seeing mud in my backyard and got up and started checking all the drains to make sure nothing was clogged,” said Marie Clark.

The scenario was a frightening reminder of a similar problem in March when her backyard was filled with mud, rocks and debris when a sinkhole broke loose, tossing a Range Rover into a 10-foot hole.

Crews were able to pull the car out, but neighbors below the location had significant damage and dealt with ongoing repairs done for months by the South Coast Water District. The sinkhole was finally repaired late in 2023.

Clark and neighbor Caroline Hamner walked to the location on Sunset and saw the “undermined street” right next to the original sinkhole.

“Our eyes popped out of our head when we saw it,” Clark said, adding that residents now worry about what impact the weight of mud could have on water and gas lines beneath the ground there.

“Part of the hillside had washed down,” Hamner said. “A lot of foilage has helped the slope, but we worry what happens if it gets worse.”

City and water district crews are on site. Sandbags have also been placed near the start and end of the debris field and water has been shut off to some of the homes.

Brendan Manning, the city’s emergency operations coordinator, said the road has been closed due to stability concerns.

Mike Tompkins, a general contractor who spent months watching the sinkhole in front of his house being repaired, worries that the problem is related to the 100-year-old roadway.

He described last year’s incident as a “hydro blast blowing the hillside away.”

This time, the impacted area happened in a location with “a chronic drainage issue” where water has consistently pooled and the street appears to have failed under a nearby block wall, he said.

“Because it’s a puddle, it takes drainage from all the homes above, and suddenly the street has a new drain,” he said of the weakened area. “This should be an indication that the street has been a problem all along. It’s a 100-year-old street that was never constructed by today’s standards and is failing.”

Sunset is closed between 10th Avenue and Virginia Way.

Meanwhile, most other areas of the city have not had many issues, Manning said. There have been a few incidents of rocks and mud on the roads with an “occasional, short-term closure.”

“We have also had some temporary beach closures due to sand shifts at the bottom of the access stairs,” he said. “Marine Safety is continuing to monitor those areas of concern.”

The temporarily closed beaches include Victoria Beach off Drummond Street, Thousands Steps Beach and Bluebird Beach near the ramp access.

Marine Safety Capt. Kai Bond said he’s unsure of when the closures will reopen and it will depend on the sand conditions.

“It depends on what Mother Nature does,” he said. “The sand has been redistributing plenty of times.”

King tides – which can bring unusually high water levels – are forecast for Feb. 9, but Bond said a lot can happen between then and now. If the sand doesn’t naturally move back to help with access points, Bond said, the city’s Public Works crew will lend some help.

The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts’ Joint Outfall Collection System will pay $6 million to help improve water treatment at Calas Park, a 9-acre recreational area in Carson that was linked to some of 14 spills that hit the region from 2018 through 2021, according to a deal announced Tuesday, Feb. 6, by the California Water Resources Board.

The agreement settles negotiations between the Sanitation District and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, which sought damages related to the spills.

The biggest of those was an 8.5 million-gallon flow that shut beaches from Orange County through Rancho Palos Verdes over New Year’s weekend in late 2021. That spill started with the collapse of a 48-inch pipe near Calas Park, which pushed sewage out of a manhole on 212th Street in Carson for nearly 24 hours. The raw sewage went through a neighborhood and into Dominguez Channel, a 15-mile water collection stream and estuary that runs from Hawthorne to Los Angeles Harbor.

It’s unclear if the planned improvements for water treatment at Calas Park would have averted the new problem, or if Calas Park is connected to the spill.

On Monday, Feb. 5, county health officials were told that wastewater again was flowing from the channel into the ocean. Though that flow has been stopped, high bacteria counts in the ocean have prompted health officials to tell swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water off Long Beach and San Pedro.

The size of this week’s spill is estimated to be 8 million gallons, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Tuesday. The cause of the spill remains under investigation.

The state described Calas Park as a popular recreational area that has “historically been overburdened by the impacts of pollution.”

Money from the Sanitation District is expected to be used to create a system to capture and treat storm and groundwater, using underground infiltration and rain gardens, among other things. The goal is to help the community by reducing the amount of contaminants in surface waters. The project also will include a public awareness campaign and education about urban runoff.

In reference to the spills from 2021, and the settlement announced Tuesday, Norma Camacho, chair of the Los Angeles Water Board, said in a prepared statement:

“These are serious incidents that threatened water quality in multiple communities, especially in Carson. … The board appreciates the fact that the districts are planning infrastructure upgrades, acted quickly to clean up the December 2021 spill and will be funding a project to improve water quality in the disadvantaged community where the worst spill occurred.”

This article has been updated with a new estimate on this week’s spill by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“I think it is amazing and beautiful,” the 9-year-old said. “It’s my first waterfall, ever. I just never knew it would be this beautiful.”

Well, kind of.

The famed Dana Point Waterfall is actually stormwater runoff in disguise. Still, it has become a draw for lookie-loos and spectators armed with cameras and cell phones to snap photos and selfies in front of the famed sight.

The waterfall only shows up while, and shortly after, heavy rains, making it an elusive attraction that lures people from near and far.

The storm runoff water funnels down from homes and businesses in the city’s Lantern District, through a concrete pipe that crosses Pacific Coast Highway and Del Prado and discharges over the cliff near Baby Beach in the harbor.

Yellow caution tape and warning signs surrounded the falls and the drainage area where the water flows down.

Pass by on a dry day, and the waterfall won’t be anywhere in sight, with no indication that it even exists here.

Set around the flowing falls are palm trees and lush landscaping, giving a faraway feel for people who come to admire them.

“Every time it rains, it just makes you feel like you’re in another area, it takes you to Hawaii,” said Gale Lorton, a Dana Point resident. “I love coming to see nature. It’s just amazing.”

The water had a hint of brown Tuesday afternoon, so people would be wise to stay clear of the discharge.

“You don’t want to go play in there,” said Rancho Mission Viejo resident Tyler Martina, who came out to see it as soon as there was a break in the rain. “Last year, people were letting their kids swim in there, and I was like, ‘No, don’t do that!’”

The waterfall was a perfect getaway when there was a break in the rain by Tuesday afternoon.

“You never get stuck inside here; once you get stuck inside for two days, it’s like ‘gotta get out to do something’,”’ he said.

For Kaden’s mom, Amy, it was the perfect after-school outing to enjoy the outdoors.

“To see this kind of thing is just breathtaking,” she said. “I think it’s cool, too, the community comes together to see something like this and pause in life.”

Dan Corwin was waiting to meet his 32-year-old daughter Chelsea, who told him about the falls.

“It’s cool,” he said. “I never knew about this.”

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