News

Evacuation & road closure orders lifted in Cranston Fire burn area

Published August 17, 2018 8:30 PM

For the third straight day, residents living in the Cranston Fire burn area were warned today of possible flooding due to thunderstorm conditions, with flood and mudslide risks exacerbated by hillsides stripped of vegetation by the arson-caused blaze.

Evacuation orders were issued for Hurkey Creek, Apple Canyon, Fleming Ranch. They were lifted by 6 p.m.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RivCoReady/status/1030622955351539712″,”author_name”:”RivCoReady”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RivCoReady”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;FRIDAY 8/17/18: All evacuation orders and highway closures for &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CranstonFlashFlood?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#CranstonFlashFlood&#lt;/a&#gt; areas LIFTED at 6pm. Flooding, mud flows and debris flows can occur with little to no warning. Always be aware of your surroundings, use caution returning home. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@RSO&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/CALFIRERRU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@CALFIRERRU&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/NWSSanDiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@NWSSanDiego&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;— RivCoReady (@RivCoReady) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RivCoReady/status/1030622955351539712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;August 18, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning, in effect until 4:45 p.m., for the San Bernardino National Forest area, including the cities of Idyllwild, Pine Cove, Anza, Mountain Center, as well as roadways that include state Route 243 between Banning and Idyllwild, and state Route 74 between Hemet and Mountain Center. Roads remained closed for a short time after the warning ended. All roads are back open as of 6 p.m.

Rainfall between a half-inch and one inch were predicted for the area, which forecasters said would “likely result in debris flow moving through Hurkey Creek and Strawberry Creek and other smaller streams.”

Debris flow possibly consisting of rocks, mud, vegetation and other loose materials could present risks for mountain residents, according to the NWS.

On Wednesday and Thursday, authorities issued evacuation orders and closed down roads for residents in the Idyllwild-Pine Cove area, but no such orders had been issued by mid-afternoon Friday. Wednesday and Thursday’s evacuation orders were only active for a few hours each day before being rescinded when the rains let up.

A community meeting will be held tonight to update residents living in the burn area regarding flash flood risks and what safety measures residents should consider in the face of ongoing thunderstorm conditions. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Idyllwild School Gym, 26700 Highway 243.

Regional rainfall was expected to decrease later tonight, but could return around Monday or Tuesday, following a sunny weekend, forecasters said.