By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY – Senior Writer
After leaving its devastating footprint on Mexican soil last week, Hurricane Hilary – the first such tropical storm to set foot in California in 84 years – wound its way up the Pacific Coast and paid a brief visit to the mountaintop communities on Sunday, Aug. 20, all the while leaving an ugly trail of flash floods, mudslides and rocks and boulders strewn across mountain roads and highways, including the intersection of Highway 18 and Lake Gregory Drive where, late in the afternoon, rocks and other debris were spread from the traffic light all the way down to the Cliffhanger.
According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Crest Forest Drive at Cold Springs Road in Cedarpines Park was closed at 2:10 a.m. on Monday due to a power pole with dangling powerlines leaning sideways above the roadway. An Edison crew was at the scene by 5 a.m. Also, Highway 18 from Snow Valley to Big Bear Dam was closed to through traffic due to a rockslide that occurred around 9 a.m. on Monday.
Stormwater near Lake Gregory’s San Moritz Meadow. (Photo by Rhea-Frances Tetley)
CHP Public Affairs Officer Ubaldo Gonzalez told the Alpine Mountaineer on Monday that Highway 38 in the vicinity of Angeles Oaks is closed to through traffic due to the storm-related collapse of Highway 38.
Governor Gavin Newsom visited the County’s Emergency Operations Center on Sunday to meet with county officials, including board of supervisors Chair Dawn Rowe, Supervisor Joe Baca Jr., Sheriff Shannon Dicus, Chief Operating Officer Luther Snoke and Emergency Services Director Daniel Munoz for a briefing on San Bernardino County’s emergency planning efforts and to discuss possible assistance from the state.
In an Aug. 20 weather alert issued by the County Department of Emergency Services, board of supervisors Chair Dawn Rowe declared a local emergency in response to Tropical Storm Hilary. The declaration was signed by County Chief Operating Officer Luther Snoke. The board will be asked to ratify the declaration at its next meeting.
Crestline’s Swiss Yodeler monument was damaged by the hurricane. (Photo by Rhea-Frances Tetley)
“San Bernardino County stands ready to help our residents get through this crisis,” Rowe told reporters.
The weather alert stated further that the county and other local public agencies have expended significant resources preparing for and responding to the storm, and the county faces the prospect of serious losses once the full impacts of the storm are felt. The declaration of a local emergency clears the path for state and federal assistance and reimbursement, should it become necessary.
Blue skies returned to the mountaintop area early on Monday morning, Aug. 21, as Hurricane Hilary, as predicted, set course northeastward toward Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Idaho. When all was said and done, according to the National Weather Service, Hilary dropped a total of 6.09 inches of rain on Crestline during its 12-hour downpour, which began around 6 p.m. on Sunday and ended around 6 a.m. on Monday. During the same period of time, Lake Arrowhead received 6.76 inches of precipitation. Rainfall figures for Running Springs were not immediately available at press time.
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