Some evacuation orders lifted in San Bernardino County towns hit by debris flows
By Michael R. Sisakc
Aug 31, 2016
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Towns near the hardest-hit areas of Southern California ordered their evacuated residents on Wednesday, but only a few of those ordered out in some cases had their homes destroyed by floods.
The towns where evacuations were lifted generally were not that close to the mountains that have prompted the evacuation orders. But on Wednesday, one in particular — the town of Redlands — was hit hard by a debris flow that flooded more than 1,000 homes.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered evacuation orders lifted for three of the hardest-hit towns in Southern California’s so-called “mega-storm” — San Bernardino County’s Alpine, Fontana and Moreno Valley — in the wake of a rain gauge that showed at least 6 inches of rain fell at the height of the flooding.
At least 6 inches of rain has fallen in those areas on at least 20 of the past 26 days, triggering evacuation orders in Redlands and parts of Ontario and Riverside counties. The water level in the county’s water storage system is rising again, and residents are urged to have their homes checked for damage in light of the evacuation orders.
Brown’s order lifted evacuations in the Riverside County cities of Ontario and Riverside. In Redlands, the city council voted to lift mandatory evacuations for most homes.
Only in Redlands, the evacuation order for the community of Redlands had been lifted. In Moreno Valley, evacuation orders remained in place, as did an order for mandatory evacuations for a handful of other areas just east of Alpine.
A total of 1,