A drowning woman and her husband were saved from a raging Los Angeles river swollen by a devastating storm which has ravaged Southern California.
The pair were saved from the river after firefighters battled the torrent to bring them onto dry land, where they were whisked away for treatment.
It comes after mudslides damaged dozens of homes and have forced hundreds of people to evacuate across two towns in Southern California that were previously ravaged by wildfires - as the most powerful storm in five years pummels the west coast.
Mud clogged up homes and rocks filled streets across Camarillo Springs, where mandatory evacuations have been ordered for 124 homes, Captain Don Aguilar of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said. The mudslide hit the area around 2am Friday.
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To the rescue: A Los Angeles Fire Department worker drags himself along a rope towards a drowning couple in the engorged river
Stretchered away: Rescuers crowd round the woman after she was pulled from the raging Los Angeles river Friday
The river rescue came Friday morning as rescue workers fought to contain the worst effects of the natural disaster. A rescuer in blue shimmied along a rope set up over the river to pluck out the imperiled pair, the LA Times reported.
After the man, who had hypothermia, was rescued he told them that his wife was still stuck. Rescuers were able to head inside and save her too - though the couple's current condition is unknown.
In the worst-affected areas, streets were filled will rocks after debris flow brushed aside barriers set up on a nearby slope and surrounded about a dozen homes with silt, sticks, roots and rocks as large as couches. Outside some homes, rocks piled so high that they reached the second story level, making doors impossible to open.
Aguilar said authorities are still assessing the scope of the damage, but no injuries have been reported in the area burned by a huge wildfire last year.
Covered: At least eight houses were blocked by massive rocks that fell on Camarillo Springs, California in a mudslide on Friday
Covered: A worker stands atop a pile of rock and mud hours after the rocks were moved by heavy rain in the area on Friday
Uprooted: People were evacuated from 124 homes in the county to escape the mudslide, and no injuries were reported
Through the floods: Jessica Avila, left, and Socorro Vasquez make their way through the flooded Le Mar Trailer Park in Redwood City, California on Thursday
Destroyed: Homeowner Elton Gallegly walks through his home on Friday after a mud slide came down on his neighborhood overnight
Destroyed: The inside of a home can be seen in San Como Lane in Camarillo Springs following the devastating mudslide
Ruined: A house is filled with mud and rocks after the early-morning mudslide following heavy rains across the West Coast
Overwhelming: Resident Tom Pilther (right) is helped by a relative as they place sand bags next to his home that just escaped the slide
Shock: Residents walk along a street after a mudslide overtook at least homes during heavy rains in Camarillo Springs
One of the homes is owned by former Congressman Elton Gallegly.
'There's a lot of memories there,' he told KTTV-TV, gesturing to his now-inaccessible house.
Farther east in Glendora, the site of the devastating Colby Fire in January, police Lieutenant Matt Williams said debris flow is sending golf- and brick-size rocks down streets. It is not yet clear how many people fled their homes but no injuries or damage to homes have been reported yet.
Firefighters were moving door-to-door to check homes and to encourage residents who ignored evacuation orders, while an ABC7 Los Angeles reporter tweeted that a local senior community was under mud and rocks.
A homeowners association in Camarillo, which is about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, had hired a construction crew to move debris - but the muck buried one of the earth movers.
Red Cross spokesman Tom Horan says 40 people displaced by the slide have come to an evacuation center, and two were taken to the hospital. He says their medical issues aren't serious.
Avalanches of mud and debris also blocked part of the Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County, weather service specialist Stuart Seto said. Street and freeway flooding snarled morning rush-hour traffic and triggered numerous accidents.
The mudslides come as a major storm pummeled the Pacific northwest and California with heavy rain and high winds, killing at least two people, and knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes.
Taken away: The almost-drowned woman was taken for further care on a stretcher after the near-death ordeal
Surveying the damage: A Ventura County Sheriff Deputy stands on a huge rock slide that damaged the homes in the Ventura County town
Destroyed: Ventura County Sheriff deputy Joe Gallante walks with homeowner Elton Gallegly (left) after a rock and mud slide came down
Buried: Earth moving equipment is buried by debris in Camarillo Springs. The homeowners association hired a construction crew to move debris, but the muck buried one of the earth movers as a powerful storm moved through the area
Massive task: A work crew uses a backhoe to clean-up after a rock slide damaged more than a dozen homes in Ventura County
Miserable: Homeowner Amanda Heinlein stands on a mud landslide covering a basketball court near her house in Azusa, California
Cleared: A fire truck makes its way down a semi-cleared street as residents survey homes affected by a mud and rock slide on Friday
Heading out: Residents leave their mud and rock damaged community after the huge rock slide in Camarillo on Friday
Stuck: A fireman surveys homes swamped by thick mud in Camarillo following the early-morning slide
Threatening: This NOAA satellite image taken at 1pm on Friday shows a large storm system over the Pacific Northwest
Much of drought-stricken California has been battered with rain and winds since Thursday morning, and The National Weather Service in Monterey said Monday the storm is 'expected to be one of the strongest storms in terms of wind and rain intensity' since storms in October 2009 and January 2008.
In Oregon the 80mph winds proved deadly, with a teenage boy killed when a large tree fell on the vehicle he was travelling in, causing it to swerve and hit a tree. A homeless man camping in a tent was also killed by a falling tree.
As well as the two killed, a man in southwest Washington state, and a sixth-grader at an elementary school in Santa Cruz, California, were injured by falling trees.
In Washaway Beach, Washington, houses were ripped away by rising tides, with owners rushing to save any belongings they could.
Widely scattered power outages left about 50,000 customers of Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power without electricity, spokesmen for the utilities said.
While the sun rose Friday to dry skies over San Francisco, the storm's affects lingered in Northern California.
In Sonoma County, the Russian River was approaching flood stage Friday morning and was expected to crest several feet above it by early afternoon. Officials advised residents of about 300 homes to evacuate low-lying areas.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2871854/Mudslides-damage-dozens-homes-Southern-California-powerful-storm-five-years-pummels-West-Coast.html#ixzz3LwWJVHBi
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