Emergency teams rescued 14 people from a section of Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles late Thursday after flash floods unleashed mudslides that stranded hundreds of vehicles and forced many drivers to scramble to the roof tops of their cars.
Up to five feet of mud covered some parts of the northbound lane of the freeway 75 miles north of L.A., around Fort Tejon State Park. Hundreds of vehicles remained stuck in the mud as of Friday morning, the Associated Press reported.
More than 45 miles of I-5 is closed from Santa Clarita to north of Fort Tejon State Park, according to the California Department of Transportation.
"Boulders were just coming down the mountain and we were just like, 'We can't see' and it was just really crazy," said Gabby Vasquez, who was among those stranded, KABC-TV reports.
Mud also surrounded homes in the Elizabeth Lake area, the Los Angeles Times reports. Emergency teams used a helicopter to rescue two people trapped in an SUV partially submerged in rushing water.
State Route 58 in Kern County was closed near Mojave, Calif., about 95 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. In a statement, the California Department of Transportation said it expected the State Route 58 shutdown would be “a long term closure” and advised motorists to seek alternative routes.
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