Storms Kill 1, Strand Thousands in California

About 2,500 people were stranded after thunderstorms caused mountain mudslides in southern California yesterday, while one person was found dead in a flooded creek, authorities say. A body was found in a car that was swept into the rain-swollen water in Mount Baldy and overturned, a San Bernardino County fire official says. Further east, flash floods brought thick debris flows that cut off access to two towns. About 1,500 residents of Oak Glen, and another 1,000 residents of Forest Falls in the San Bernardino Mountains were unable to get out because the roads were covered with mud, rock, and debris.

The stranded include 500 children and adults who had arrived at a Forest Falls campground yesterday morning. "Our concern is that they're isolated at that campground and no longer have access out of the mountain," another county fire spokesman says. Authorities made reverse 911 calls to urge residents to stay put while crews clear the roads with bulldozers, but it wasn't immediately clear how much progress had been made clearing roadways. (More California stories.)