'It's tragic here': Lytle Creek residents are cut off, buried in mud after storm, resident says

""It's tragic here," said Travis Guenther, 54, who lives in the town's Happy Jack neighborhood. "This is a horrible scene down here.""

""We tested a firetruck going across it," Millerick said Sunday afternoon. "Because the issue was that, in the event of an emergency, we need to be able to get access to those houses and people.""

""So we're still trapped inside of our neighborhood, as far as all of our vehicles go," he said."

A fierce holiday storm brought heavy rain to the San Gabriel Mountains and San Bernardino County, prompting evacuation orders on Christmas Eve. The Happy Jack neighborhood in Lytle Creek, home to about 280 residents, became isolated when floodwaters destroyed the roads connecting the community's sole entrance and exit bridge. County public works crews used heavy equipment to construct a temporary dirt bridge, moving sediment and logs to create rudimentary access. Fire officials tested a firetruck across the makeshift structure to verify emergency access. An engineer inspection is required before residents can safely use the temporary crossing, and many homes contain mounds of mud.

Read at Los Angeles Times