Dozens stranded as storms dump heavy rain on Calif.

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS

10 years ago

Marilyn Van Schenk stands in knee-deep water as she clears a clogged storm drain that had caused her street to flood in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Heavy rain from a powerful Pacific storm swept through California providing some relief from a three-year drought. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Crews work around a sinkhole that formed in the Richmond district after a night of heavy rains Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in San Francisco. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday, but the storm so far had produced few of the problems such as flooding and mudslides that threatened areas left barren by wildfires. (AP Photo/San Francisco Examiner, Mike Koozmin)

Maintenance worker Thomas Malone, of LA County Public Works, monitors the Easley Canyon debris basin below the Colby Fire burn area in Glendora on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. More rain is expected in the Southland today, with potential mudslides in area previously denuded by the Colby Fire. (AP Photo/San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Watchara Phomicinda)

Glendora work crews clear mud and debris along Kregmont Drive in Glendora on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. More rain is expected in the Southland today, with potential mudslides in area previously denuded by the Colby Fire. (AP Photo/San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Watchara Phomicinda)

Commuters walk in the rain in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Preparing for the next round of storm, resident Edward Bikle, 46, helps put sandbags in front of an elderly resident’s home in 100 block of W. Sierra Madre Avenue in Glendora on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. More rain is expected in the Southland today, with potential mudslides in area previously denuded by the Colby Fire. (AP Photo/San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Watchara Phomicinda)

William Hudnell rides his bike through the water on Lindberg Lane in Petaluma, Calif., after heavy rains caused flooding on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday, but the storm so far had produced few of the problems such as flooding and mudslides that threatened areas left barren by wildfires. (AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Beth Schlanker)

Mitchell Samios, left, and John Salus, Petaluma school district maintenance employees, clean up the band room after it flooded due to heavy rain on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in Petaluma, Calif. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday, but the storm so far had produced few of the problems such as flooding and mudslides that threatened areas left barren by wildfires.(AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Beth Schlanker)

Jessica Quinn, 5, runs along a lookout point at Fort Funston as the sun sets in San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A woman walks dogs on Bernal Heights Hill in San Francisco on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. In the background is Sutro Tower, an antenna tower. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday, but the storm so far had produced few of the problems such as flooding and mudslides that threatened areas left barren by wildfires. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this photo provided by the National Park Service, Upper Yosemite Falls flows at full force after two days of significant rainfall Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. A second day of much-needed rain fell across drought-stricken California on Wednesday, but the storm had so far produced few of the problems such as flooding and mudslides that had threatened areas left barren by wildfires. (AP Photo/National Park Service)

Water and leaves accumulate along Stockton Blvd. near Alhambra in Sacramento, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Rain caused some minor flooding throughout the area. Heavy rain from a powerful Pacific storm swept through California, providing some relief from a three-year drought. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Randall Benton)

A rainbow appears over the tree covered neighborhood of east Sacramento, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014 after nearly two inches of rain fell in the previous 24 hours. The rainbow was photographed from the top of the Park Tower Building in downtown Sacramento. Heavy rain from a powerful Pacific storm swept through California, providing some relief from a three-year drought. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Jose Luis Villegas)

LOS ANGELES — A dayslong storm took a parting shot as it moved out of the drought-stricken state Thursday, dumping more heavy rain that triggered flash floods and stranded more than three dozen people in their cars in Southern California.

Five vehicles got stuck shortly after 1 a.m. as several feet of mud and water roared over a rural road near Gilman Hot Springs about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Riverside County fire officials said.

A woman in one car was “hanging out of the passenger side of her vehicle screaming for help,” California Highway Patrol Sgt. Adrian Horta said.

Horta said he was able to steer his SUV alongside the car and pull the woman and her male companion out through a window on the road north of Hemet, a valley city surrounded by hills and mountains.

“The mountain slide had come down and it was about 4 feet deep,” he told KCBS-TV.

A swift water rescue crew rescued 12 other motorists. Over the next several hours, rescuers pulled 26 more people from cars in the Hemet and San Jacinto areas, county fire spokesman Lucas Spelman said. Several cars and SUVs remained stuck in mud, some with only their roofs exposed.

Residents of eight nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, and numerous roads in the inland region were closed, Spelman said.

South in San Diego County, morning floodwaters sent a mudflow 80 feet wide into roads in the Alpine area.

The diminishing Pacific system brought three days of rain to California. There was some flooding and evacuations near hillsides stripped bare by wildfires, but the Los Angeles area avoided major damage despite some huge rainfall totals. An exceptional 14.5 inches has fallen since Tuesday at Yucaipa Ridge in the San Bernardino Mountains, the National Weather Service said.

Most other parts of the state received 2 to 4 inches of rain.

The storm dropped snow in mountains key to the state’s water supply and made signature waterfalls flow at Yosemite National Park, including the 2,425-foot Yosemite Falls that had slowed to a trickle in mid-July.

But the needed soaking also caused problems: likely opening a pair of sinkholes in San Francisco, including a 20-by-30-foot chasm in a neighborhood, and flooding freeways in Sacramento.

The San Francisco Bay Area reached or exceeded normal annual rainfall totals for the first time in years.

Just before the storm arrived, the Sierra Nevada snowpack — which accounts for most of the state’s water supply — was at just 24 percent of normal for this time of year. But snow was building rapidly with reports of 10 inches of snowfall at elevations of 8,000 feet.

That good news was tempered by a stark reality: California needs many more such storms to alleviate a three-year drought.

Associated Press writers John Antczak in Los Angeles and Kristin Bender in San Francisco contributed to this report.