California mudslides demolish homes, eight deaths reported

LOS ANGELES - Mudslides unleashed by a ferocious storm demolished homes in southern California, authorities said Tuesday. Eight people were reported killed.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) said the bodies were discovered in mud and debris during rescue operations in Montecito, northwest of Los Angeles, according to various reports.

The fire and sheriff's departments weren't immediately available to confirm the deaths, but a further 25 people were reported injured.

The SBCFD said on its Twitter feed it was using dogs to look for victims where multiple homes once stood in Montecito following heavy rain.

The department posted pictures of neighborhoods submerged in mud and roads rendered impassable by fallen trees.

"Firefighters successfully rescued a 14-yr-old girl after she was trapped for hours inside a destroyed home in Montecito," it added.

Roads were clogged throughout the region with mud flows shutting down more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the 101 Freeway and knocking a number of homes from their foundations.

Pounding rain weakened south-facing slopes above Montecito and flooded a creek, sending mud and huge rocks rolling into housing areas.

Emergency responders received numerous unconfirmed missing-person reports, the fire department told the Los Angeles Times.

The highest rainfall total was recorded at five inches (13 centimeters) in Ventura County, according to the National Weather Service Los Angeles.

Much of the affected area is land scorched by the massive Thomas fire last month, where there is no vegetation to soak up the excess water.

About 275 traffic crashes were logged in the California Highway Patrol's jurisdiction in Los Angeles County during the morning commute -- compared with just 30 reported collisions during the same period on Tuesday last week.

A evacuation order was issued in a section of the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, which was hit by a mudslide that pulled cars out of driveways and carried them downstream.

The slide also caused a "significant" gas leak, and repair efforts left homes on the street with no gas, electricity or water.

"There were many homes, about 40 to 45 homes, affected by it, a couple homes damaged," Burbank Fire Department Battalion Chief John Owings told local TV news channel KCAL9.

"We performed two physical rescues at approximately 7 o'clock this morning."

At Los Angeles International Airport, flooding forced the closure of the customs area in Terminal 2.

Forecasters warned that while the rain had appeared to subside by late morning, more showers and isolated thunderstorms were expected through the evening, with periods of very heavy rain.

The storm came after a 10-month dry spell in the area following torrential rains in January and February of last year. In 2017, downtown Los Angeles experienced its driest March 1 through December 31 since 1878, with only 0.69 of an inch of rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nutella dispute lands California man behind bars

CALIFORNIA - A California man was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in jail for punching an elderly man at a store in a dispute over Nutella samples.

Derrick Gharabighi, who had been detained since the altercation last September at a Costco warehouse store in Burbank, received the sentence but was immediately released having earned credit for time served.

The 25-year-old was arrested and charged with elder abuse after punching in the face a 78-old-man who had challenged him for taking too many samples of the chocolate-hazelnut spread.

"He takes two, three of them, left one," Sahak Sahakian told local media at the time. "I want to take that one, and he catch my hand. I say, 'What are you doing? Let me eat this one.'"

Police said Sahakian suffered "significant laceration above his left eye and swelling around the same area of his face."

Free samples are a huge attraction at Costco stores throughout the United States. Hungry shoppers can often be seen crowding around a sample table to grab free food and drinks.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers dies at 74

LOS ANGELES - Singer Phil Everly of the famed Everly Brothers died Friday, his widow told The Los Angeles. He was 74.

Everly passed away in the Californian city of Burbank due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Patti Everly told the newspaper.

"We are absolutely heartbroken," she said, noting her husband's disease was caused by a cigarette smoking. "He fought long and hard."

Together with his brother Don, who survives him, Everly rose to fame in the late 1950s and 1960s for smash hits such as "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do is Dream" and "Bye Bye Love."

The duo, who influenced The Beatles as well as Simon and Garfunkel, were known for their close-harmony singing.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, into which the Everly Brothers were inducted in 1986, described their harmonies as "one of the musical treasures of the 1950s and a major influence on the music of the 1960s."

In 1957, the Everly Brothers signed their first record deal and soon after produced hits that spawned the genres of pop, rock and country. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Tributes poured in soon after word of Everly's death surfaced.

"Rest in peace Phil Everly. You guys brought us a lot of pleasure back in the day," rock and country singer-songwriter Charlie Daniels tweeted.

Commenting as a winter snowstorm hit the northeast United States, actor and musician John Gallagher Jr. said: "This cold night just got colder. RIP Phil Everly. The Everly Brothers Greatest Hits was my first CD as a kid and will always be a favorite."

"They had that sibling sound," said Linda Ronstadt, who recorded one of the biggest hits of her career in 1975 with her interpretation of Everly's "When Will I Be Loved."

"The information of your DNA is carried in your voice, and you can get a sound (with family) that you never get with someone who's not blood-related to you," she told the Times.

"And they were both such good singers -- they were one of the foundations, one of the cornerstones of the new rock 'n' roll sound."

According to a Rolling Stone biography of the legendary performers -- hailed as "the most important vocal duo in rock" by the magazine -- Phil and his younger brother Don were the children of Midwestern country stars Ike and Margaret Everly and performed on the family radio show while growing up.

As teenagers, they headed for Nashville, Tennessee, and began their stellar career.

In addition to his wife and brother, Everly is survived by their mother, Margaret, sons Jason and Chris, and two granddaughters.

The Times said funeral services would be private.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com