Southern California survived a Pacific Northwest storm without causing much damage or delivering the mudslides and severe flooding that many had feared.
Up to 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) of rain had been expected in Orange County canyons burned bare by wildfires earlier in the year. About 1,000 homes were ordered evacuated in the area as a precaution on Thursday, but only about half that amount fell overnight.
Officials had been concerned that people would choke the narrow streets if they waited to leave until it was dark and raining. Only about 40 homes actually were evacuated, officials said, though residents took precautions such as sandbagging.
The evacuation order was lifted Friday as the mudslide risk eased.
Elsewhere, rain-slicked roads led to multiple traffic accidents. In Burbank, firefighters rescued two people whose car went off Interstate 5 shortly after 5 a.m. and overturned in 2 feet (0.6 meters) of water in the Los Angeles River.
The storm arrived late Thursday night and the heaviest rain came after midnight.
"The storm pushed through L.A. pretty fast, faster than we were expecting," National Weather Service Chief Weather Specialist Stuart Seto said.
In Washington state, meanwhile, officials hoped by Friday to allow all traffic on a section of Interstate 5, the West Coast's main artery, which had been swamped by floodwater and closed for three days after a previous storm system crashed through the region.
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