Mudslides in California leave people homeless

San Francisco: Mudslides on fire-scarred land in the eastern Sierra Nevada forced people from their homes.

A huge mudslide in an area that was devastated by wildfires last year damaged about 50 homes and caused the temporary closure of a main road in the California town of Independence.

Severe thunderstorms on Saturday set off the mudslide 275 meters wide and up to 1 meter deep, said Carma Roper, spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

The mud came within almost a kilometer of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which supplies much of Los Angeles' water.

Residents of more than 50 homes were evacuated and could not return to their properties. Officials were using a nearby school as a shelter. Fires were not burning in that easternmost corner of California.