Helicoptered Crews Rescue Snowbound Ortega Highway Drivers

Search and rescue crews helicoptered into the Santa Ana Mountains rescued drivers trapped in their vehicles overnight when a rare snow storm rendered Ortega Highway impassable.

About three dozen vehicles, with about 40 people in them, were stuck overnight today on State Route 74, and the road was to remain closed into tomorrow.

CHP officers and Search and Rescue crews from Orange and Riverside counties were ferried by helicopters into the Santa Ana Mountains to the winding road, which remained littered with stalled vehicles. By midday, they had determined that no one was hurt and all the marooned people had been driven to safety.

By midafternoon, Highway 74 had been plowed and the rocks and trees that had fallen on it had been cleared. But the road, also known as the Ortega Highway, had heavy snow on the sides of it in road cuts, a CHP officer told City News Service.

“There’s lots of frozen runoff that’s running onto the road, and will freeze into black ice tonight. That’s what we were concerned about, and that’s why the road will remain closed overnight,” said CHP Officer Larry Vicino.

Route 74 is the direct route between San Juan Capistrano in southern Orange County and Lake Elsinore in western Riverside County. Drivers were advised to detour via Oceanside or Corona through tonight.

Snow made the Ortega Highway treacherous and impassable starting at about 10 p.m. Monday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Denise Quesada. Trees, overloaded with snow, had collapsed onto the road.

The winding two-lane road tops out at about 3,300 feet in elevation between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore. The closure affected about 20 miles of highway between Nichols Roads, near San Juan Capistrano, and Grand Avenue at Lake Elsinore.

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Twitter user KnightfromABC2 ‏@Knightfromabc2