1 person dead, 4 missing after fast-moving water sweeps through California homeless encampment

One particular person is useless and 4 are lacking after fast-moving waters from heavy rain hit a homeless encampment in Southern California on Tuesday, officers mentioned.

Officers rescued one other 4 individuals who had been swept away in Ontario and one other particular person managed to drag themselves out of the water, Dan Bell, director of communications for the town, mentioned. All of these individuals have been medically cleared, Bell added.

Officers imagine all the people had been dwelling in a homeless encampment close to an space that feeds right into a basin, Bell mentioned.

Homeless outreach officers from the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Division reported Tuesday morning that there have been six individuals who wanted to be rescued from a riverbed on the 1200 block of East Fourth Road, in response to data launched by the town.

“They had been doing their regular outreach forward of a storm, from what I gathered,” Bell mentioned of these officers.

The hearth division mentioned Wednesday in a tweet that “there was a rise to the variety of doable victims since yesterday as extra information turns into out there.”

Bell mentioned officers pieced collectively the upper variety of total victims based mostly on data supplied by witnesses.

The 5 rescues had been performed on Tuesday, in response to the hearth division. Two of these individuals went to native hospitals earlier than being cleared and one refused medical therapy.

Officers haven’t launched the identities of the lacking victims and deceased particular person, Bell mentioned.

The fast-moving waters, proven in a tweet posted by the hearth division, adopted heavy rains within the area in a single day Monday and into Tuesday morning, NBC Los Angeles reported.

“Right here’s a fast video of how briskly the present is shifting,” mentioned the tweet, posted Tuesday. “Please keep away from any riverbed or flood channels.”

“Bear in mind, simply 6 inches of water can sweep you away,” the division added in a subsequent tweet. “Keep away from all shifting water!”

Restoration efforts are ongoing for the 4 lacking victims, Bell mentioned.

“We’re not presuming they’re useless, we’re looking for them, however … we’re calling it restoration as a result of we do not know the place they’re,” he mentioned.