A swift-water rescue crew helps a man after he was stranded in a tree in the Los Angeles River near downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015.(AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A record-breaking storm slammed parched Southern California on Tuesday, sending rainfall gushing down roadways and turning the morning commute treacherous.
Downtown Los Angeles saw a staggering 2.28 inches, breaking a record for rainfall on this date and marking the second-wettest 24-hour period on record for the month of September, National Weather Service meteorologist Robbie Munroe said.
Swift-water rescue crews plucked three people and a dog from tree branches as the Los Angeles River swelled from its usual trickle to a raging torrent. Rescuers were looking for more victims possibly stuck in thick vegetation along the riverbank just north of downtown, in an area known for homeless encampments, city fire spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said.
Traffic backed up following spinouts and fender benders on several slick freeways. Westbound Interstate 210 in Pasadena was expected to be closed for several hours after a big rig overturned and blocked all lanes, California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada said. No injuries were reported.
Gutters overflowed and floodwaters rushed down residential streets throughout greater Los Angeles. At least 19 apartments were evacuated after water came through the roof of a three-story building in West Hollywood, according to county fire officials.
The weather service issued a flood advisory for Los Angeles County as rain fell at a rate of a third of an inch an hour in some areas. It also warned that the downpours raised the possibility of debris flows near recent wildfire burn scars.
The wet weather was not expected to relieve the state's record drought but could be a harbinger of El Nino, the ocean-warming phenomenon that may bring heavy rain to Southern California this winter, Munroe said.
"El Nino increases your odds for getting more energetic storms, but you can't really attribute it to any specific storm," he said. "But a rainfall like this means we're heading in the right direction."
The storm stretched east into inland desert regions and south to Orange and San Diego counties.
Brien Milledge said some of his co-workers at an Orange auto repair business were late to work because of snarled traffic, but he had no problems despite the wet weather. He said drivers kept a safe distance and traffic kept flowing on State Route 57 in the early morning.
"I was really surprised how well everyone was behaved," Milledge said. "In California when it rains, you know how it is — they're just not used to driving in it."
The storm grew after a low-pressure system from the northwest combined with the remnants of former Hurricane Linda, which formed Sept. 6 in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico and later dissipated off Baja California.
The rain offered a brief respite from hot and dry conditions, as temperatures dropped into the 70s in some areas. Temperatures were expected to spike again and humidity will drop by Wednesday, forecasters said.
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Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this report.