A reprieve on Christmas Day from Wednesday’s brutal storm gave residents and emergency responders in some of Southern California’s mountain communities a chance to recover from mudslides, destructive floods and damaged power lines.
But even the forecast of showers for late Thursday and Friday remains a threat to soaked communities across the region.
In Wrightwood, debris flows on Christmas Eve buried homes, turned roads into rivers and split asphalt in half. The storm was unlike any in recent memory, said resident Erin DeGroot.
“My husband has lived up here with his family his whole life and it is the worst damage he’s seen,” she said.
Her husband and son, along with community members, spent much of Christmas Eve setting up sandbags and other barriers to protect family members’ homes near Edna Street and Mill Road. They were able to save her husband’s parents’ home, but mudslides cut through a neighbor’s house, DeGroot said, leaving more than two feet of mud inside.
“It was so fast and intense, there was nothing he could do,” she said.
The San Bernardino Mountains got 10-12 inches of rain in 48 hours, meteorologists reported on Thursday afternoon.
Evacuation orders went out in Wrightwood on Wednesday, only to quickly shift into shelter-in-place orders as roadways turned impassable, she said. Her daughter, who works at a Starbucks down the mountain, was unable to return, DeGroot said.
Crews from San Bernardino County and Caltrans spent much of the day removing debris and reopening roads. Most of the businesses in town remained closed, either for the holiday or because of damage to their property. It left residents with few opportunities to resupply and anxious about what might be coming next.
“Resources that we would normally have to stock up and be ready for the next brunt are not here,” DeGroot said.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department announced that it had rescued over 100 people – with one helicopter hoisting 21 people from cars, and one engine pulling 20 people from vehicles.
The LAPD responded to more than 350 traffic accidents and the L.A. Fire Department deployed to three river rescues, officials said. There were no serious injuries or deaths related to the storm.
In Altadena, rainwater flooded the boutique Sidecca, destroying some of its merchandise, according to the store’s Instagram. The business, forced to close after the Eaton fire burned surrounding buildings, reopened in November. Owner Adriana Molina could not be reached for comment Thursday.
WRIGHTWOOD/DECEMBER STORMS INCIDENT
MORNING UPDATESan Bernardino County Fire remains in unified command with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
With a break in the weather this morning, crews were strategically placed in neighborhoods that were severely impacted by the… pic.twitter.com/CQbXnviLYY— San Bernardino County Fire (@SBCOUNTYFIRE) December 25, 2025
Forecasts on Thursday afternoon indicated the worst of the storm had passed, though risks remained in water-damaged mountain communities, said Chandler Price, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“Today, it’s going to be pretty quiet,” Price said on Christmas afternoon. “Coastal Orange County and the West San Bernardino Mountains could see some light showers.”
Evacuation warnings were still in place into Thursday evening for Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, as well as for Wrightwood and Lytle Creek.
“Since the soils are all wet, they’re going to hold less moisture than they usually can,” Price said, “which means it’s going to run off easier, which leads to our elevated flooding concerns.”
Showers and increased winds are expected across Orange County and the Inland Empire beginning early Friday morning. While most of the region will see calmer weather, the San Bernardino Mountains will continue to have a flood advisory with a total of an additional 2-2.5 inches in the area on Friday.
The potential for flooding also will remain high through Friday in parts of Los Angeles County, according to an NWS forecast discussion. The rainfall should be less than what was seen on Wednesday, but flooding, debris flow and storm damage risks remain high because of the already water-logged landscape, the meteorologists said.
Price urged those living in mountain areas to stay off the roads.
“Yesterday’s weather was significant,” he said. “While tomorrow will be more typical for this kind of weather event, infrastructure has been saturated, creating safety risks.”
Coastal Orange County saw light showers on Christmas Day, with heavier rains expected to hit northwest Orange County early Friday morning. Showers should be on and off for the rest of the day. The county could get an additional 1-1.5 inches of rain, according to the NWS. Heavy floods are unlikely in the area, Price said, but nuisance flooding could occur in urban settings.
The showers are expected to dissipate around Southern California by late Friday evening with dry, warmer weather returning this weekend and lasting through the middle of next week.
On Wednesday, the first wave of a dangerous atmospheric river storm dumped torrential rain, with widespread debris flows and freeway flooding. Cars got stuck on washed-out roads. Evacuation warnings and orders were in effect in vulnerable areas, including those near wildfire burn scars.
That day, the entire community of Wrightwood – 5,000 customers – lost power, Southern California Edison reported. On Thursday, 2,900 still had no electricity.
Three different SCE substations in the Wrightwood area were compromised, according to Scott Johnson, an SCE spokesperson. And many of those residents will have to remain without power for a while longer.
Johnson said the damage to infrastructure was significant, with equipment being completely washed away, and because of severe flooding, the crews cannot get to the substations to repair them.
“The challenging part for Edison, as is the case for any of the first responders and the individuals attempting to resolve this, is that the roads themselves are currently impassable,” Johnson said.
San Bernardino County firefighters said they rescued people trapped in cars when mud and debris rushed down a road leading into Wrightwood.
“San Bernardino County Fire is devastated that many families are unable to be home together this Christmas due to the ongoing impacts of this incident,” the fire department said in a Dec. 24 post on X. “Our hearts are with everyone affected, and our crews remain committed to supporting the community during this difficult time.”
Fourteen visitors were stranded in Mt. Baldy overnight because of the road closure, said Graham Hendrickson, fire chief for the Mt. Baldy Fire Department. However, the Mt. Baldy firefighters opened their homes to those stranded, he said, allowing the visitors to spend the holidays with their families.
DeGroot said the storm has been a good reminder to “be prepared at all times whenever you live in this type of environment, especially with climate change and recent fires.”
She added, “We’re never out of the woods, literally and metaphorically.”
But, she said, “I see neighbors helping neighbors and I think that is one of the special things about Wrightwood, we all look out for each other in these types of situations.”
With multiple roadways flooded, residents are advised to stay off roads to ensure access for emergency crews if needed. For those whose homes have been damaged or do not have an area to shelter in place, the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds are open to the community, including to both large and small animals. The Red Cross is staffing the shelter.
Residents can check the evacuation status of their neighborhoods at protect.genasys.com.
While freeways and some other roads around Southern California were reopened late Wednesday, Mt. Baldy Road at Shin Road remained closed except to residents on Christmas morning because of slides, said California Highway Patrol Officer Sergio Garcia. Mud could be seen falling around trees and blocking the roadway.
There were two major debris flows on the road, Hendrickson said, and as of Thursday afternoon, one had been cleared and road crews were working on the other.
Additional closures in the San Bernardino Mountains on Thursday morning included Lytle Creek Road at Glen Helen Parkway and the full closure of all lanes on Highway 2 for 12 miles west of Highway 39.
Rainfall totals almost doubled in some cases since the beginning of the storm.
Here are some 48-hour rainfall totals as of Thursday, according to the NWS:
LA County:
San Gabriel mountains: 8-10 inches
The San Gabriel Valley: 3-4 inches
San Fernando Valley: 4-5 inches
Santa Monica mountains: 2-4 inches
La Cañada foothills: 3-4 inches
Orange County:
Dana Point: 1.06-1.33 inches
Huntington Beach: 1.39-1.56 inches
Laguna Beach: 0.96 inches
Santa Ana mountains: 1-73-3 inches
Inland Empire:
Riverside: 0.64-0.68 inches
Chino: 1.85-2.67 inches
Big Bear Lake: 3.12-4.67 inches
Cajon Pass: 8.51 inches
San Bernardino: 0.96-1.06 inches
San Bernardino mountains: 10.5-12.32 inches
City News Service contributed to this report.
The Mercury News
Leave a Reply