Wild weather wreaks havoc in Eastern Sierra

Pictured: A mudslide in Twin Lakes last week left some residents with quite a mess. (Photo: Mono County)/

It’s been a destructive week. It began on Friday, Aug. 17 when the Twin Lakes area experienced flooding and a mudslide after deluge-like rainfall.

Mono County Director of Road Operations, Jeff Walters told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that his staff had responded to the mudslide in the area and provided 150 sandbags, among other assistance.

Debris cleanup was still underway on Tuesday and a propane tank was MIA, according to Walters.

On Saturday, Walters was notified that a big rig had hit the Crowley Lake overpass and caused damage, however, since the County owns the road on the overpass, but not the overpass itself, it was a Caltrans issue to be resolved.

On Sunday, Walters was again notified, this time of a camper in a 45-foot motorhome who, due to the heavy rain, had become stuck at his campsite at Hartley Springs. A County employee was working in the area and was able to use the County grader that is parked at Obsidian Dome to get the stranded camper out.

Heavy rain, thunder and lightning hit the Eastern Sierra at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 22 waking many Mammoth locals. The lightning sparked at least three fires, one near Schulman Grove (see Bristlecone Pine Forest Visitor Center story) another just outside of the Town of Mammoth behind the geothermal plant, and another on Lookout Mountain.

Mammoth Lakes and Long Valley fire crews responded to the fire at the geothermal plant, which burned about 1/10 of an acre according to MLFD Chief Brent Harper.

“The fire was creeping through the duff,” Harper said so there is no guarantee that the rain would have put the fire out if local crews had not responded.

The Forest Service responded to the fire on Lookout Mountain.