Glendora appeared to have escaped relatively unscathed despite heavy rainfall lashing the area.
City officials issued a red alert Thursday night, mandating evacuations for residents of the Colby Fire burn area, and a mandatory evacuation order was also in effect for the east side Of Ridgeview Drive In Azusa. The alert was downgraded Friday to yellow, meaning evacuations were voluntary.
Residents and workers had managed to keep the water flowing during the early hours, preventing debris flows from damaging properties and blocking roads, despite two inches of rainfall.
But officials were closely monitoring a second pocket of bad weather that could hit the area by 7.a.m, and cause a third inch of rainfall, which could be a potential tipping point.
City officials had announced the alert before the storm so residents could come home from work, gather their thoughts and items and evacuate their homes, said Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers during a news conference.
"Once you leave, you're not getting back in," Jeffers said.
The alert went into effect at 10 p.m.
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The neighborhood affected is where the Colby Fire burned in January. The fire started in the San Gabriel Mountains and burned nearly 2,000 acres, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds. The fire left the hillsides bare and drought conditions have loosened soil in the area.
Warnings hit home for Glendora residents packing up to get out.
"Our back channel in our backyard flooded," Harley Warren said. "Water seeped in underneath our foundation and it flooded our living quarters, so we actually had to move out that weekend."
Warren left, but returned Thursday night to help her family.
"I just grab clothes at this point. It's getting to be too much," Patti Warren said. "So just little odds and ends. My dad's dog tags (are) what means a lot to me. A few pictures and mostly clothes."
At the news conference Thursday, city and county officials said they are preparing for the storm, but will not be available for all possible situations.
"After the mud starts to flow, we cannot get to you before it stops," said Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Steve Martin.
Firefighters may be hampered if wires and trees get knocked down from winds, which are forecast to blow up to 60 mph, Martin said.
Officials urged residents to leave or prepare themselves.
The city has 50,000 sandbags available to residents 24 hours a day, but warned to get them soon as they could run out.
Officials are planning to open shelters.
The Crowther Teen Center Evacuation Center at 241 W. Dawson Ave. in Glendora, is currently open, police said.
The Inland Valley Humane Society at the center is also open to help with small pets. Horses can be taken to the Pomona Fairgrounds Gate 1.
Evacuation orders were in effect elsewhere across Southern California.
Residents in an apartment complex in the Riverside County community of San Jacinto were ordered to evacuate by 4 p.m. Thursday.
Evacuation orders were also in place in the Camarillo Springs area in Ventura County.
