Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501130040
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MALIBU, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Eight deaths statewide have been blamed on nine days of storms that have dropped more than a foot of rain in some areas and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The state Office of Emergency Services reported a preliminary damage estimate of $66 million, but that figure didn't include hard-hit Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties.
Emergency crews and homeowners used a brief respite in the weather to clear muck and debris, fortify sandbag barriers and fill sinkholes. But more rain was expected late Wednesday and today, and forecasters said a stronger storm was off the coast, poised to strike this weekend.
President Clinton, who declared 24 California counties disaster areas, was scheduled to visit Monday anyway to commemorate the first anniversary of the Jan. 17 Los Angeles earthquake.
The weather created havoc in freeway-dependent Southern California as motorists tried to navigate roads with pools of water up to their car doors.
A sewer line collapsed in Industry, 22 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, creating a large sinkhole that swallowed a car. Neighbors lowered a ladder into the hole, and the driver escaped with minor injuries. Other sinkholes were reported throughout Los Angeles County.
The Pacific Coast Highway was shut down in Malibu after a widening crack was discovered in an aging bridge over swollen Malibu Creek.
Farther down the highway, at Tuna Canyon, the road was blocked by tons of dirt from a collapsed hillside. Tractors scooped up the debris, and dump trucks unloaded it on the beach.
Coated with a thick batter of mud, Malibu looked like a war zone, with hills still scarred from the devastating wildfires of November 1993 and beach homes fortified with sandbags.
Pepi Kelman went in search of shovels to dig mud away from her Pacific Coast Highway home.
``Every time this happens, you think about leaving,'' Kelman said. ``Then the sun comes out, the mud is cleared away, and the ocean is beautiful - and you don't want to go away.''
Storm-related deaths included a Marine on maneuvers at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County. The body of Lt. Col. Harry Murdoch, 43, was found four miles downstream from where he was swept away by a raging creek while trying to find a crossing for about 79 of his Marines.
Hollywood shut down several Malibu shoots because of the rain, including the TV shows ``Diagnosis Murder,'' ``Models Inc.'' and the TV movie ``Showgirls.''
In Agoura Hills, the location for the CBS series ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' was closed after water and mud damaged outdoor sets.
Keywords:
FATALIYT
by CNB