Storm System Prompts Evacuations in Glendora

Heavy rains over Southern California prompted residents of Glendora to prepare for an emergency evacuation Monday.

Sandbags were filled and offered to residents over concerns of mudslides in the area ravaged by January’s Colby fire in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills. The loss of vegetation makes the region especially susceptible to flooding.

"The water is going to come up. We are just worried the water is going to come up to our driveway… last time [it rained] we couldn’t even get out," Glendora resident Weijia Forgy said.

According to a city press release, the impact area includes “all properties north of Sierra Madre between the western city boundaries of Azusa/Glendora to the eastern boundary of properties on the west side of the Little Dalton Wash.” 

Early Tuesday morning, city officials upgraded Glendora’s alert level to Orange, which puts voluntary evacuation orders into effect.  The city opened an evacuation center and instructed residents to remove anything in the streets in front of their homes and businesses that could obstruct evacuation efforts, block drainage systems, or impede Public Works access.

"We have mitigation measures plus the personnel in the field that can rapidly respond things and keep things going," Glendora city manager Chris Jeffers said.

The city expects the rainfall to continue through Wednesday and has not ruled out the possibility of raising the alert level to Red.