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Heavy Downpour Causes Mudslide In Glendora

GLENDORA (CBSLA.com) — Heavy downpour caused a small mudslide in rain-soaked Glendora on Saturday morning.

Shortly after 6:30 a.m., a fast rush of debris and mud flowed down Sierra Madre Avenue and Hicrest Road, reported KCAL9's Louisa Hodge.

But the storm's havoc didn't end there.

In Azusa, a tornado warning was issued just before 3:30 a.m. The storm cell, however, did not materialize into a tornado but turned into a severe thunderstorm, squeezing out about an inch of hail near the city of Walnut, KCAL9 Meteorologist Amber Lee reported.

Aerial footage in Monrovia captured images of mud filling a pool and hot tub. K-rails and other homemade barricades helped keep the mud at bay, however.

Meanwhile, mandatory evacuation orders for Glendora, Azusa, and Monrovia remain in effect.

In Glendora, about 100 homes were impacted. Residents, there, voiced concerns as some homes are near a debris basin they say remains about 25-feet deep in mud.

"Today is day 3 of red alert. And so, we've got people still evacuated only because we expect those thunderstorms, those high-intensity, short duration, type of rain storms," said Glendora Police Chief Timothy Staab.

"The hillsides are already soaked right now and it may not take much to cause those mudslides to just come down out of the hills," Staab said.

Saturday evening, evacuated residents in Glendora were told that they could return to their homes at about 6 a.m. Sunday.

City leaders, citing mud on the streets, thought it would be safer for residents to return at daylight.

KCAL9's Cristy Fajardo said more than 50,000 sandbags kept the damage to a minimum. And city leaders said they believed no homes were damaged.

Resident Trish Emory just said she would be happy to sleep soundly for the first night in days.

"I'm hoping to get a lot more rest than I did the last few nights. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable," said Emory.

"We had one single goal here, to protect life and property," said Chris Jeffers, Glendora City manager. "And I'm happy to report that we achieved that goal, 100 percent."

City officials also told residents Sunday that it could take another 3-5 years for vegetation to grow on the burned out hills.

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