LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (AP) - A powerful fall storm packing strong winds and rain eased Wednesday without causing the widespread mudslides and debris flows that California residents had feared.
The storm delivered its biggest punch to northern and central areas, knocking out power to 870,000 utility customers from Southern California to the San Joaquin Valley, the Eastern Sierra and Eureka on the north coast.
A mandatory evacuation order remained in effect for residents of about 40 homes in central coast mountains near Watsonville, east of Monterey Bay, due to mudslides, said Chris Hirsch, a spokeswoman for Santa Cruz County emergency services.
A snarled commute was the storm's biggest immediate impact in Los Angeles County, as vehicles collided on wet pavement and water pooled on some routes. The California Highway Patrol tallied 186 crashes between midnight and 6 a.m., nearly 10 times more than the same period a week earlier.