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So. Calif. road crews clean up

March 2, 2005

Transportation officials in California worked to reopen damaged roads and restore interrupted train service as the Los Angeles

Transportation officials in California worked to reopen damaged roads and restore interrupted train service as the Los Angeles area began drying out from the wettest period in more than a century.

Transportation officials in California worked to reopen damaged roads and restore interrupted train service as the Los Angeles

Transportation officials in California worked to reopen damaged roads and restore interrupted train service as the Los Angeles area began drying out from the wettest period in more than a century. At least nine people will killed statewide following six days of torrential rain that dislodged rocks, caused mudslides and washed huge sinkholes out of roadways.

Official storm damage estimates were $10 million in the past several days and $52.5 million since the beginning of the year. Efforts were under way to reopen 20 roads closed by storm damage or flooding.

The Los Angeles area has seen 34.36 in. of rain since last July 1, when the average for a year is roughly 15 in. of rain. The area has not seen that much rain in that time period since 1890.

Mudslides and sinkholes were a problem throughout the San Diego area. Engineering officials were estimating multi-million dollar repairs to streets and pipes. The city reported 19 mudslides in what was statistically the third-wettest season in its history. In the San Diego-area neighborhood of Lakeside, a boulder smashed into a road as county crews tried to stabilize it.