Wrightwood Residents Urged to Evacuate as Severe Weather Renders Highway 2 Impassable

Wrightwood, a scenic mountain town, has been beleaguered by severe weather conditions as continuous rainfall has rendered Highway 2 impassable. According to a CBS News report, the San Bernardino County Fire Department is struggling to deal with the aftermath of mud flows and debris, which have washed out the vital roadway into the community. Evacuation warnings were in place for areas stretching from Pine Street to the Los Angeles County line. San Bernardino County Public Information Officer Chris Prater noted, "Right now, Highway 2 is impassible due to multiple debris flows, and there is some heavy flooding in the area."

With the conditions deteriorating, emergency crews are helping residents evacuate, some of whom are immediately affected by the devastation caused by flooding and debris flow, as shown in a video posted by the local fire department on X social media. Prompted by the destruction, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has encouraged residents to vacate the hazardous area. They also provided an interactive evacuation map for the public’s reference. The county's fire department has put in requests for additional resources, including three engines, hand crews, a bulldozer, and a swift-water rescue unit to combat the turmoil inflicted by nature.

Further compounding the crisis, Dr. Ariel Cohen of the National Weather Service indicated that this destructive weather might persist. "We are closely monitoring central Los Angeles County, north of downtown over the San Gabriel Mountains, and nearby valleys and westward toward areas around the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Monica Mountains – think of that as an arch around the higher terrain- that corridor is where we will see the greatest amount of wind damage as well as extreme, really high rain fall amounts and flooding, and we expect that to worsen in the next couple of hours," Cohen told CBS News. Residents are grappling with this calamity, especially as many are still recovering from the damage caused by the Bridge Fire in 2024, which has rendered the terrain more susceptible to such flows.

Community stalwarts like Janice Quick, the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce president, spoke of the harrowing experiences of the townsfolk. Forced by the road closures to shelter in place, locals are worried about their homes, with some reporting water inundations. "I've seen some heavy rain, but I've never seen rain last this long, as far as the heaviness and this amount of rain -- and of course because of our fire, we've got a lot of mud and debris flow," Quick, having lived in Wrightwood for 50 years, told CBS News. The unfolding events cast a shadow over the community's Christmas Eve, prompting the establishment of a Care and Reception Center at Serrano High School for those needing to evacuate.