Details continue to emerge following the deadly San Bernardino mudslides that have already claimed several lives. A wall of mud twelve feet high, carrying huge boulders and tree branches, overwhelmed a Californian campground 65 miles east of Los Angeles. The mudslides have claimed seven lives and there are still nine people missing.

Efforts to find survivors are continuing as mountain rescue teams equipped with helicopters and sniffer dogs joined the search. Hopes are beginning to fade though, as night time temperatures fall below freezing.

The storm that brought the rain to California is now wreaking havoc in the nearby state of Utah.

An avalanche swept at least five snowboarders down a rugged canyon in the north of Utah near to the Sundance ski resort. The avalanche struck after the winter storm dumped 75cm of snow on the mountains. Three people are still missing.

In areas around Salt Lake City 30cm of snow has fallen, bringing with it chaos. Tree branches have collapsed on to power lines bringing blackouts to over 50,000 people, and it seems unlikely that power will be restored for the next few days.

There has also been widespread disruption to transport as accidents blocked major roads. The heavy snow is forecast to continue, bringing the total accumulation to over a metre in places.

You would think that all this new snow would be great news for the nearby ski resorts, but there has been too much of the stuff and the roads up to the resorts have been closed. The avalanche risk also remains high on steep slopes.

The storm is forecast to move towards the Great Lakes region of North America over the next few days.

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San Bernardino mudslides

Weather News from the last five days:
26/12/2003
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