Heavy storms and mudslides over the weekend caused a section of Highway 1 to collapse in California’s Big Sur region, trapping about 2,000 motorists, most of them tourists, overnight.
California Department of Transportation officials told Platform X that a section of the freeway, from Lime Creek to the north and Limekiln to the south, would remain closed while crews worked on the affected areas. On Friday, officials said a section, known as Ragged Point, was closed “due to landslide activity north of this location.”
No injuries were reported. The agency did not give an estimate of when the highway was expected to reopen.
On Sunday afternoon, Monterey County Emergency Management officials sent convoys with a police escort to remove people from the affected areas, said Nicholas Pasculli, a county spokesman.
Many of those trapped were visitors passing through the area, considered one of the most scenic in the world, during the Easter holidays and had to sleep in temporary shelters, which were at 75% capacity, Mr Pasculli said. Others stayed in local hotels, bed and breakfasts and camps, and others slept in their cars, he added.
Another escort is planned for Monday morning in case crews can’t get to everyone by Sunday night, he said.
“Hopefully we can get all the visitors out today. This is our hope. That’s our goal,” Mr. Pasculli said. “Suffice it to say, it’s a holiday weekend. You know, this area is a beautiful area and people like to come and visit.”
Monterey County issued a disaster declaration and officials urged people to avoid the highway. “We are asking everyone to stay away from this area to allow for the safe passage of emergency personnel, emergency vehicles and essential workers,” Mr Pasculli said.
An unusually cold and powerful storm system lashed the Pacific Southwest this weekend, bringing rain, flash flooding and snow to parts of California and elsewhere. A flash flood warning was in effect Sunday for the San Diego area as the storm continued to move along the coast before heading inland, forecasters said.
Rain was expected to continue Sunday with a chance of thunderstorms, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles wrote Sunday. Forecasters warned people to prepare for hail, strong winds and even the risk of tornadoes.
Last year, relentless winter storms in California triggered landslides that blocked a 20-mile section of Big Sur for several weeks.
In January 2021, a storm caused similar damage to a section of the highway, and sections were closed after heavy rains threatened to trigger mudslides and rockslides.
Over the years, landslides have destroyed portions of California’s Highway 1, which stretches more than 650 miles from south of Los Angeles to north of San Francisco, through Big Sur and the Golden Gate Bridge. More specifically, in May 2017, about 6 million cubic meters of land was moved after torrential rains, adding 15 hectares of coastline. The highway was repaired and reopened a year later.
Before that, the largest landslide to damage the highway, commonly called the Pacific Coast Highway, occurred in 1983, further north in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
