Storm may hamper mudslide search
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A storm looms off the U.S. West Coast in this satellite image taken Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PST.
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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Authorities feared Sunday a new storm over the Pacific Ocean would further hamper the search for five people missing in Southern California mudslides that killed at least eleven others on Christmas Day.
Though skies were sunny, temperatures were near freezing as recovery efforts continued. Six dogs and about 200 people combed a boulder- and tree-strewn mud slick in Old Waterman Canyon, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles, hoping to find the missing before heavy rains forecast for Tuesday complicated their efforts.
As the search entered its third day in the canyon country ravaged by wildfires only two months ago, county fire department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said, "The chances of survivors are diminishing."
A storm forming over the Pacific Ocean was expected to bring up to 6 inches of rain, sub-freezing temperatures and strong winds to the San Bernardino Mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
The rains "could cause flooding problems with rock, mud and debris floes especially in the recently burned slopes," forecaster Frank O'Leary said.
The last survivors were found hours after a mudslide engulfed the caretaker's cabin at St. Sophia Camp where 28 adults and children were sharing Christmas lunch.
The bodies of five children and two adults have been pulled from deep mud and debris surrounding the retreat run by the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
The bodies of a man and a woman were recovered Friday at a campground several miles away. They had been killed in a separate slide that destroyed 32 trailers and sent 52 people scrambling to safety Thursday.
Sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson said some of the bodies may never be recovered. "We could have bodies that washed down for miles that may be caught under rocks and trees and several feet of mud and debris," Patterson said.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
