Mudslides Overnight Bury Roads, Block Homes Of Bond Fire Evacuees

SILVERADO, CA — A pounding winter storm buried roadways for Silverado Canyon residents in Orange County's burn scar areas late Thursday and early Friday. Orange County Public Works was out in force, driving bulldozers and clearing roads and driveways blocked by debris flows during and after the storm.

A quick Geology 101 lesson: Mudslides happen during rains after brushfires denude the hillsides. Without vegetation and root systems to hold the earth together, heavy rains can create charred sludge that slumps down broad sections of hillsides. Such mud and debris flows are predictable, as what happened overnight in the Silverado Canyon areas. Since December's Bond Fire, Orange County Public Works has put erosion control measures into place, including over 20,000 sandbags to divert such an occurrence. On Thursday, more sandbags were filled and made available to residents.

Orange County Sheriff's Department advised area residents, especially those with large animals, to leave their homes Thursday due to the danger of potential mudslides.

A voluntary evacuation warning was in place through Friday, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

After a night of work, the soft road closure on Santiago Canyon Road was reopened early (Friday) morning, OC Public Works Shannon Widor tells Patch. "On Thursday, we advised people to stay out of that area, especially on the eastern side," Widor says.

That did not stop a few news outlets from heading in that direction and becoming trapped overnight.

The slide along Silverado Canyon Road, near Sycamore Drive and Rancho Way, and close to the Silverado and Bond fire burn scars was first reported about 11 p.m. Thursday by Fox 11.

Mud covered the road about a mile from the Orange County Fire Authority station in the canyon just before 11:45 p.m., NBC4 reported. A news van from the station was unable to leave until crews using bulldozers cleared the roadway.

Fox11 reporter Bill Melugin tweeted about 11:45 p.m. "We are currently trapped, but perfectly fine. Roads are impassible from multiple mudflows. Bulldozers on scene trying to clear it. Residents out in streets concerned about the stability of other hills near their homes."

At least one home was evacuated during the late-night slide, Fox 11 reported. All residents were given ample warning of the road closures and potential for danger Thursday.

By late Friday morning, a break in the rain has allowed crews to make greater headway, though more rain was headed that way.

"The canyons in the Bond Fire burn scar remain a high-risk area," Widor says. "Those slopes are still a risk for flooding and future mudslides."