After muddy roads were cleared and reopened Saturday, 71 juveniles were transferred from the county’s Camp William Mendenhall northwest of Palmdale in the Angeles National Forest to two previously closed camps at Challenger Memorial Youth Center in Lancaster.
The closure of Lake Hughes Road prevented staff members and other workers from leaving the facility until Friday and Saturday, said Felicia Cotton, deputy chief over juvenile institutions for Los Angeles County.
“Everyone was very happy on Saturday to be able to leave the facility and go to another facility and allow the cleanup and all the things to occur,” Cotton said. “Everyone was in very good spirits on Saturday as we moved over to Challenger.”
On Oct. 4, juveniles from Camp John Munz joined their peers at adjacent Camp Mendenhall — both rehabilitative camps for youth — to allow repairs to be done at Camp Munz.
EMERGENCY DECLARATION
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously declared a local emergency in the areas affected by last week’s severe rain storm in the Antelope Valley, including the unincorporated areas of Quartz Hill, Leona Valley, Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth.
The county will request that Gov. Jerry Brown approve the local emergency proclamation, which will enable state resources to be deployed to the recovery effort.
Gail Farber, director of the county’s Department of Public Works, said the impacted area covered 200 square miles. Twenty-nine miles of county roads were “severely impacted” by mud and debris flow.
Crews worked to clear roads so that residents could return to their homes Friday evening. Twenty miles of roadways remain closed, Farber said.
STRANDED BY MUD
When the storm struck on Thursday, mud seeped into an administration building at one of the camps, a gymnasium, and heavy debris that had washed over from the roads surrounded the camps’ perimeters, Cotton said. There was no interruption however with their phones, power or data lines, she said.
The juveniles’ movement was limited because of the damage, but there was plenty of food and water while they were sheltered in, and there were no major problems, Cotton said.
“There are a lot of things you can do indoors,” she said. “There was one or two pranksters but no fights ... just regular teenage behavior.”
The juveniles — high-risk offenders ranging in age between 15 and 18 who have committed felonies — are in the midst of completing rehabilitative programs ranging from five to nine months depending on the offense and the order from the court, Cotton said. Most tried home probation first, and many have a few felony convictions by the time they are sent to camp, she said.
Los Angeles County Fire Department officials among others, told probation officials Thursday that it was unsafe to travel to and from Camp Mendenhall as a result of slick mud on Lake Hughes Road, which is where the camp is located, Cotton said. As a result, staff and others — including some probation employees who had already worked a 56-hour shift — had to stay overnight, she said.
Among those held over were five mental health workers, 11 workers from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, two independent contractors doing repairs on Camp Munz and two workers from a community-based provider, Cotton said.
WORRY FOR LOVED ONES
Santos DeCasas, principal of Munz and Mendenhall high schools, said he was among those from the county Office of Education who had to stay overnight. He said they slept on cots with blankets and pillows at a classroom in Mendenhall, were given an extra pair of clothing from probation staff as well as toothbrush and toothpaste and a chance to shower, he said.
The staff from his organization “kept really calm and composed,” he said, noting they practice monthly disaster and evacuation drills. “They were more worried about their loved ones, getting to their loved ones” at home.
DeCasas and his staff were able to leave at about 3 p.m. Friday after the county Department of Public Works opened up a lane for them on Lake Hughes Road, he said.
It was not immediately known when the juveniles and staff would be able to return to Camp Mendenhall, as storm damage assessment was still underway, Cotton said.
REPORTING DAMAGE
Teams have inspected 21 homes in eight canyon areas, and none of them have had structural damage that required yellow or red tags, Farber said. The DPW plans to complete the property assessment inspections by Friday.
County Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director Leslie Luke encouraged residents and business owners to report property damage via a survey at . So far, 90 residents have completed the survey Luke said. Damage can also be reported by calling 211-LA-COUNTY or by visiting www.211LA.org.
Crews will continue to remove sediment from roadways for several more weeks, which will cause some travelling delays. Farber advised drivers use extreme caution in work zones.
About 300,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed, Farber said.
The board also declared a “shelter crisis” through March 15 due to the anticipated El Nino conditions so that public facilities may be used as temporary shelters for homeless persons in the county.
- Staff writer Sarah Favot contributed to this report.
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