(Daily Mail) Rescuers searched for a person missing in a mudslide Tuesday as big yellow tractors plowed through dark, thick sludge and pushed boulders off roads after flash floods swept dirt, rocks and trees down fire-scarred slopes, washed away cars and buried buildings in small mountain communities in Southern California.
A shocking video showed a slow-moving black river of sludge rolling past the sign for the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon followed seconds later by a surging wave of deeper mud carrying logs on Monday. The mud appeared to be head-high in places the next day.
In the clip, a man standing closer to where the sludge is pouring in, is forced to run for his life.
According to a statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page, they are closed for business indefinitely ‘due to unfortunate and catastrophic circumstances.’
The Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon co-owner Brandon Gallegos said through tears in a video on Facebook: ‘Our building’s covered inside and out by mother nature coming down from these mountains.’
He continued: ‘We thank you all for your understanding during such a difficult time for our staff and family.’
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help to continue to pay the restaurant’s staff while the restaurant is closed.
According to a statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page, they are closed for business indefinitely ‘due to unfortunate and catastrophic circumstances’
The Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon co-owner Brandon Gallegos said through tears in a video on Facebook: ‘Our building’s covered inside and out by mother nature coming down from these mountains’
The man who shot the shocking footage, Roger Seheult, told ABC Los Angeles that he was on his way to pick up his daughters from school when he came upon the slide. He said: ‘The next thing I know, it’s wave after wave after wave of mud, debris, coming down from this flash flood’
Paul Burgess, with the California Geological Survey, examines the damage in the aftermath of a mudslide in Oak Glen, Calif. Cleanup efforts and damage assessments are underway east of Los Angeles after heavy rains unleashed mudslides in a mountain area scorched by a wildfire two years ago
Mailboxes are covered in mud in the aftermath of the mudslide outside of the Oak Glen Steakhouse and Saloon
In an interview with KTLA, the owner’s sister, Karen Pierce, said that even though the steakhouse’s walls remain standing: ‘We’re devastated on the inside as pictures will show, the mud came up and over the roof and when it came over the roof it pushed through’
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help to continue to pay the restaurant’s staff while the restaurant is closed
The man who shot the shocking footage, Roger Seheult, told ABC Los Angeles that he was on his way to pick up his daughters from school when he came upon the slide.
He said: ‘The next thing I know, it’s wave after wave after wave of mud, debris, coming down from this flash flood.’
While Gallegos told the station: ‘The damage is pretty bad. As you saw, a lot of years that we put in to this place. A lot of staff that has helped me over the years. A lot of financial investment into everything. When you look at it all you just gotta thank God that everyone is OK.’
In an interview with KTLA, Gallegos’ sister, Karen Pierce, said that even though the steakhouse’s walls remain standing: ‘We’re devastated on the inside as pictures will show, the mud came up and over the roof and when it came over the roof it pushed through.’
She said that it was a miracle that nobody was inside when the building was hit.
Gallegos’ father, Rick Knudsen, purchased the property where the restaurant is located after he won $180 million in the Mega Millions lottery in 2014, according to Redlands Daily Facts.
Southern California has been lashed with heavy rainfall thanks to the fallout from Tropical Storm Kay. At one point, the storm was a hurricane.
With thunderstorms forecast and more mudslides possible into Wednesday, evacuation orders remained in place in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains while a wildfire raging 500 miles to the north forced residents to abandon their homes.
A local resident, Eugene Gerber, told NBC Los Angeles: ‘It’s part of life. It’s part of living in the mountain. If you want to live in paradise, there’s always some kind of consequence. For us, it’s floods, fires [and] heavy snow.’
Electric poles are seen half-fallen in the aftermath of the mudslide which occurred on the back of Tropical Storm Kay
A cyclist rides a long a mud-covered road, in the aftermath of the mudslide
Perla Halbert gets a look at the damage to her property, unable to access it due to deep mud in her driveway, in the aftermath of mudslide
