Hilary dumps up to 4 inches on Kern, closes Highway 58 and forces Sand Canyon evacuation order
Aug. 20—Flash floods struck across Kern on Sunday as Tropical Storm Hilary dumped as much as 4 inches of rain in some parts of the county, closing a stretch of Highway 58 and prompting an evacuation order for Sand Canyon near Tehachapi.
Warnings went out throughout the day calling on people to seek higher ground and avoid driving or walking through flood waters. There were no reports of injuries.
Thunderstorms that hit Kern late Saturday had mostly passed by Sunday, but strong winds were expected to continue, along with substantial rain, through early Monday. Forecasters predicted the storm would clear out starting Tuesday, allowing the county to begin drying out.
"We still have some more coming in and it's going to be moderate to heavy precipitation, it looks like, until a little after midnight, tapering off overnight," National Weather Service meteorologist David Spector said at about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Eastern portions of the county suffered the most, judging by a series of flash flood warnings that continued throughout the day, covering a swath extending from the desert to the Tehachapi areas.
Not until relatively late in the day did NWS add the Arvin, Bakersfield, Lamont and Lebec areas to the list of places experiencing or facing threats from flash flooding.
Spector said the Tehachapi and Walker Pass areas received between 2.5 and 4 inches of rain by 7 p.m. Sunday — roughly the same amount reported in the Frazier Park area at that time — while Kern's desert areas got 1.5 to 2.5 inches. He added no more than an inch of rain had fallen in the southern Central Valley.
Just after 2 p.m., the Kern County Fire Department issued an order to evacuate Sand Canyon because of worries the area's only access road would become impassable because of Hilary. It referred evacuees to the Tehachapi Education Center, 126 S. Snyder Ave. in Tehachapi.
At 3:21 p.m. a notice issued by Kern County government reported that Cache Creek had overflowed and that people north of Highway 58 and east of Sand Canyon Road should shelter in place.
Separately, Kern County Public Works reported two road closures Sunday morning, one because of flooding and debris along Cameron Road between Highway 58 and Woodford-Tehachapi Road. The other was on Redrock Randsburg Road between Highways 395 and 14.
Later in the day, the department updated its post to say flooding had required the closure of Oak Creek Road between Tehachapi Willow Springs Road and Koch Street. Also on the closure was Sand Canyon Road between Highway 58 and Willow Springs, and Copus Road between Old River and Basic School roads.
