Heavy Rain, Flooding and Crashes in East County

A lull in the rainfall tonight is only temporary, according to weather forecasters. The prediction is for even more heavy rain, beginning about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

Rain fell throughout the day Tuesday, causing hundreds of traffic accidents and reports of flooding.

Two accidents were reported around 3 p.m. on Highway 94 (on eastbound and one westbound) just west of Lemon Grove near College Grove Avenue. The eastbound lanes were still congested with traffic all the way to Lemon Grove Avenue, as of 4 p.m. The westbound crash was cleared, but the vehicle was overturned.

The California Highway Patrol is imploring drivers to slow down, and never, ever, drive through a flooded roadway. Already there have been reports of cars swept away in strong currents in North County.

Flooding has impacted many roads in and near East County this morning. In Spring Valley, Quarry Road is closed at the dip due to flooding.

Flooding was also reported, at 4 p.m. on Lemon Avenue at Alto Drive, on the border of La Mesa and Mount Helix. A mud or rock slide was reported earlier in the day, at 10:17 a.m., at Jamul Drive and Steele Canyon Road, and flooding was reported at 10:12 a.m. on Queen Avenue in the Mount Helix/Casa del Oro area.

Just before 11:30 a.m. a slide was reported that sent dirt, sludge and two four-foot boulders into the roadway on Alpine Boulevard, east of Peutz Valley Road.

Currently there are no other reports of serious roadway flooding in East County, but that could change at any minute as the rain continues.

As of 10 a.m. Royal Road, just west of Winter Gardens Boulevard in El Cajon, was closed due to a fallen tree blocking the westbound roadway.

For updates on flooding and road closures, go to the County Department of Public Works emergency page at sdcdpw.org/emergency.

The highway patrol and local law enforcement are scrambling to respond to hundreds of reported accidents countywide; 323 crashes were reported between midnight and 7 p.m. today. On a normal, non-rainy day, about 50 to 75 traffic accidents are reported to the CHP in a 24-hour period.

In Spring Valley, a vehicle reportedly hit a pedestrian at Grand Avenue and Jamacha Boulevard at 9 a.m., causing major trauma to the victim.

To see the latest traffic accidents and other road reports, go to the CHP's traffic incident page at cad.chp.ca.gov/.