Cajon Valley residents prepare for potential storm problems

Rob McMillan Image
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Cajon Valley residents prepare for potential storm problems
The much-needed rain means potential problems for people in the burn areas, and many along the Cajon Pass were preparing on Wednesday for wet weather.

PHELAN, Calif. (KABC) -- The much-needed rain means potential problems for people in the burn areas, and many along the Cajon Pass were preparing on Wednesday for wet weather.

It's not just singed leaves and blackened tree limbs that remind Suzanne Reichard about the Blue Cut Fire that burned through the Cajon Valley a few months ago. Like a lot of the folks in the area, her home is surrounded by charred hillsides.

Now, with rain on the way, she and other residents are once again looking toward those hills, hoping to avoid a major mudslide.

"It's all on a slant, so once it starts raining and the mud starts coming, there's nothing to hold it back," she explained.

Just up the road, Vince Foglia was getting ready.

For him, that means stocking up with hay to make sure all of the animals on the property -- and there are a lot of them -- have enough to eat should the weather cause problems.

"As you can see behind us, the Blue Cut got us pretty bad, so we're just trying to keep the soil going and the livestock fed to get ready for the big storm," he said.

Foglia's father-in-law's home was destroyed during the fire and were worried about flooding.

"We're going to have some flash-flood problems because our soil is all loose now," he shared. "I want rain, just not a lot of rain at the same time..."

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