Woman and her dog missing after mudflows slam parts of San Bernardino County
SILVA VALLEY, Calif. — A woman and her dog were missing after their vehicle was swept by mudflows this morning when the National Weather Service issued a mudflow warning for parts of San Bernardino County late Saturday morning.
The woman was driving on Highway 38 in the area of West Colby and Highway 37 in the city of Turlock at about 8:30 a.m. when the SUV began filling with mud.
The woman, who was driving a 1996 silver Honda Civic with California license plates, was unable to pull over at the first opportunity, so she continued to drive.
Just after the car was completely full, two large mudflows covered the vehicle in all four lanes. The woman stopped again trying to escape the mud and eventually she and the dog were swept into an oncoming car and left under the vehicle.
She was unable to locate her way out of the mud, so she headed to the nearest road, but she wasn’t able to take the turns to avoid the mud and so was unable to continue south. She began driving back to the city of Turlock hoping she could get help before it began to rain, but found the roads impassable and eventually she lost control of the car and went over an embankment.
The woman’s husband was able to locate her and contact her, though it took a number of hours to get to her location.
The mudflows hit the northern side of the county, but areas south of the mountain range have been hit, with the highest totals reported in the San Bernardino National Forest. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the region this morning.
The area is currently under a wet/dry pressure gradient warning. The pressure gradient warning means that conditions may be dry near the surface, but rain may build up to dangerous levels.
In addition to the mudflows, heavy rains have also been causing significant flooding and debris flows.
In the last 24 hours, two people have died and six have been injured in California.
The heavy rains have caused the water level on San Bernardino Creek to rise 4 feet.
In addition, a debris flow caused a mudslide that took out a portion of an overpass.
The San Bernardino County Office of Emergency Services reported that one person was killed this morning after a tractor-trailer hit their car while trying to bypass
