Crews on Sunday pulled dozens of stranded cars and trucks free and reopened some Southern California roads that were buried in tons of mud during flash flooding.
The reopening "comes well ahead of original forecasts" with more than 40 bulldozers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment working through the weekend to shift an estimated 200,000 cubic yards of mud, according to a Los Angeles County Public Works statement.
As of Sunday afternoon, only 2 big-rigs and five cars were left to free, although efforts to remove the tons of now-hardened mud covering the highway were just beginning, said Florene Trainor, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.
Kerjon Lee, a spokesman for county Public Works, said Saturday that at least one of the homes in the area is considered a total loss after flooding ripped it from its foundation.