Reporter Caroline An encountered these two dogs on Woodland Avenue Saturday as she was reporting on the Sierra Madre mudslides. An told me she didn't even notice the dogs at first, but was instead "transfixed" by some nearby spring flowers.

Here's her description of the photo:

Two lovely, cuddly dogs kept watch on Woodland Avenue Saturday morning. One of the streets affected by mudsliudes and hail that occurred Thursday. 

Posted by Frank Girardot at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Officials at Sierra Madre City Hall declared a state of emergency and planned to seek state and federal assistance to cope with mudslides flowing through neighborhoods that had been assaulted by wildfires less than a month ago.
"At this point the mud has not flowed into people's homes," said Sierra Madre City Manager Elaine Aguilar, who added voluntary evacuations had been declared for residents along Woodland and Skyland drives.
But many ignored the evacuation requests and chose to stay and weather the torrential rains that fell on the area Thursday and Friday, hoping that the runoff from the denuded hillsides would be contained to the streets.
John Stillman said at one point Thursday the mud had reached up to the hood of his white Honda Accord in front of his Skyland Drive home. Down the street, a neighbor's pool was flooded with the brown, sticky stuff.
"I hardly got it out," said Stillman of his car. He chose to stay put as city crews worked until early Friday using a skip-loader to clear the mud flows in front of his home.

Posted by Frank Girardot at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the mud continues to slide down a couple of Sierra Madre streets, reporter Fred Ortega gets busy reporting the news.

Photographer Leo Jarzomb shot this picture Friday May 23, amid the freak late spring rain storm that's pelted the region.

Those guys cleaning the streets are inmates. Fred's the guy with the umbrella.

Posted by Frank Girardot at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At least three streets in Sierra Madre have been evacuated as a precaution against flash flooding and mudslides, officials report.

The streets are Skyland Drive, Woodland Drive and Lotus Lane, officials said. An Emergency Operations Center has been opened. Evacuees will be taken there.

Posted by Frank Girardot at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As with the last month's Sierra Madre/Santa Anita/Chantry Flats fire, there are several bloggers watching what's going on at Mt. Baldy. And today's apparent flare up 

The Fire, officially dubbed the "Bighorn Wildland Fire"  has burned 310 acres and is about 10 percent contained, according to Inciweb.

From the Blogs:

"Ashes in the sky"

US Forest Service updates from My Murrieta (?)

Still "out of control"

Posted by Frank Girardot at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)