Hundreds evacuated as California battered by storm

Hundreds of homeowners in fire-ravaged areas were ordered to evacuate across California Wednesday as a powerful storm battered the region, triggering warnings of flash floods and mudslides.

The storm, the third to hit into the region since Monday, was expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain in some areas by Thursday, raising fears of landslides in hilly regions denuded of vegetation by last year's wildfires.

Authorities issued evacuation orders to around 750 homes in the Los Angeles area deemed to be threatened by landslides.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief P. Michael Freeman said residents and public officials were "involved in a race against Mother Nature.

"And if she wins the race there's no way we can assure that firefighters, as well-equipped and as trained as they are, will be able to get into your neighborhood and make rescues," Freeman said.

Los Angeles Police Department chief Charlie Beck meanwhile urged homeowners threatened by landslides to act as soon as they were ordered to evacuate. "If a Los Angeles police officer comes to your door and tells you to leave: leave," Beck told a news briefing.

"We're not asking you to leave because we think your lawn's going to get dirty, we're not doing it because your carpet's going to get wet.

"We're doing it because your life is at risk."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa meanwhile warned that the combination of vegetation-denuded hillsides and torrential rain could create a repeat of the 2005 La Conchita mudslide which left 10 people dead and buried 18 homes.

"This storm, the rain that's about to come, created a situation where we could be looking at a La Conchita-type mudslide," Villaraigosa warned.

"This is not hyperbole here. We're asking people to cooperate, to take this seriously."

The severe weather buffeted planes flying throughout the region, including two Los Angeles-bound passenger jets which were struck by lightning.

Both planes - Southwest Airlines flights from Oakland and Sacramento - were rattled by lightning before they came into land at Bob Hope Airport in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said.

A flight attendant on one of the flights complained of pain in her arm and was treated in hospital but there were no reports of further injuries.

Both planes were taken out of service for inspection but suffered no visible damage in the high voltage blasts. Los Angeles, AFP