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Residents Return To Homes In Silverado Canyon

SILVERADO CANYON (CBSLA) — Residents were allowed to return to their Silverado Canyon homes after officials reopen roads and lift the evacuation order.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department first sent the evacuation order around noon after heavy rain caused mudslides and debris to flow down the roads near Silverado, Modjeska and Williams canyon. It rained so hard in Orange County that the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at about 11 a.m as the rain began to fall at a rate of .5 to .75 inches per hour. The flash flood order expired at 12:30 p.m.

The Sheriff's Department lifted the mandatory evacuation order at around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, about six hours after the order was first issued. Officials were concerned about mudslides in this area after last year's Bond Fire severely burned the landscape. Two mudslides sent a torrent of mud and debris by homes in Silverado County prompting officials to evacuate and in some instances rescue residents.

"You can feel the momentum and you can hear the rocks that's when it's uncontrollable," said one resident. "It made water come down here and start bouncing off these walls like it's like a slip and slide. It went all the way up to this driveway over here."

The Orange County Fire Authority sent crews, including two swift water rescue teams, to save residents trapped in their homes. The OCFA has not reported any injuries.

"People were trapped on their properties due to the roads," said Fire Captain Greg Barta. "The roads up there are very narrow inaccessible in many spots when this mud comes down."

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