our own miguel almaguer is in l.a. for us. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. river banks across california are on the rise and here in los angeles the l.a. river which snakes through so much of the city is also on the rise. earlier today, water threatened lives. now it's threatening homeless. raging waters and flash flooding in orange county four hikers were rescued after being trapped and in orange county, four hikers were rescued after they were trapped by a swollen creek overnight. >> they're cold, they're wet. >> near san diego, three men were pulled to safety from rising rapids below a bridge. but in northern california, a 62-year-old woman died after she drove into the rushing river. >> stay on high grounds. stay in a safe place and have communications available if possible. >> reporter: few areas are safe. heavy rain pounded the west all night. hundreds of toppled trees destroyed property and knocked out power. by morning, homes in san diego were taking in water. >> we've been bouncing from flooding call to flooding call so, it's not isolated to one por

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> still ahead tonight, has the mystery of amelia earhart's disappearance been solved? the evidence that may finally reveal what happened. >>> it is one of the most enduring mysteries of our time. more than 70 years old and the source of endless speculation. what really happened to amelia earhart? the pioneering pilot who disappeared while trying to circle the globe. tonight, there may be an intriguing new clue. here's nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: her name is almost synonymous with aviation. amelia earhart, famous for being the first woman to fly solo across the atlantic but also for her disappearance, seemingly without a trace as she was attempting to circle the globe in 1937. it is one of the greatest mysteries of our time. her body has never been found. >> we cannot hear you on 500. >> reporter: but her legend lives on in books, television and in movies, including this one in which earhart is portrayed by actress hillary swank. >> we are running north and south. >> reporter: it's long been believed her plane ran out of fuel and crashe

nbc's miguel almaguer is in highland, california tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: carl, good evening. the city was a bull's-eye for the storm, a river of mud flowed right through this neighborhood. tonight, it's still several feet deep. although the weather and rain have passed, it may return. highland is a devastated city just before christmas. fire crews were shoveling to help residents get in their homes. ramone perez feels lucky his house was spared. he's helping neighbors. >> look at the devastation, this close to christmas. >> reporter: there's still a mudslide threat to 140 homes under a saturated ground. but for 26 houses, the damage is done. >> at first, i seen a rush of water and mud. by the time i knew it, we were engaufled like a river in the house. >> reporter: karen hernandez escaped, but lost her beloved dog. today, she won't go into her home. >> i haven't looked inside. i didn't want to look inside. i'm sorry. >> reporter: she raised her two children, freddie and erica, here for 15 years. >> the christmas tree was

our coverage of what it's leaving behind tonight beginning with our own miguel almaguer who is in orange county, california tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: the west has been hammered all week, but the knockout punch may have come today. coastal cities are known for their raw beauty, but today, so many of them are simply a mess. in laguna beach, roads became rivers, heavy runoff washing away some of the main beach area. joe crash was awakened at 3:00 a.m. when a retaining wall slammed into his home. >> i am fortunate that i'm not dead. >> reporter: nearly four inches of rain overnight cut off roads with mudslides. 30 people were stranded and eventually rescued. >> it was like the heavens opened up. >> reporter: jeremy hess helped his grandmother evacuate through a window with four feet of water in the house. >> it's like you were crawling through a river. >> reporter: nearby, residents of silverado canyon fought a losing battle against an eroding hillside. emergency evacuations were ordered in the foothill communities of los angeles. >> hello? los angeles sheriff's department.

nbc's miguel almaguer is live in highland about 60 miles to the east of los angeles. miguel, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning. christmas trees were up in this neighborhood, residents were getting ready for a holiday weekend. now, dozens of homes in this area look like this. this is a 12-foot high ceiling for a patio. a wall of mud surged right below it and broke into the home behind me. many say the family that lived here is lucky to be alive. a blanket of mud, a community buried in debris. joop i just never seen anything like this. >> reporter: in highland, california, the flash flooding began when a nearby river spilled into town. first, a stream of water, then a sea of mud. brian ran. >> just came straight down the hill like a liquid hill. >> reporter: more than 30 homes were damaged, 100 people rescued. karen hernandez narrowly escaped with her own life. she used an emergency ladder just to get out of her own house. >> the whole backyard was flooded and by the time i knew it, i had a river in my living room. i got nothing left, nothing. >> repo

but first, here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: memories, pictures of a beaming mother all susan powell's family have left. gone in an instant, vanished from her utah home on a freezing december night one year ago. susan's husband, josh, told investigator his took the children camping in this remote area in a snowstorm december 7th. when he came home that even, josh said susan was gone. detectives named josh powell a person of interest. >> josh maintains he had nothing to do with his wife disappear. >> reporter: salt lake tribune reporter nate carlisle spent six hours with josh powell in november, but with the anniversary of susan's disappearance, josh has said little publicly. >> josh believes that his wife ran away on her own accord and that she's still out there and may return one day. >> i think that it's dwight ludicro ludicrous. >> reporter: josh's sister doesn't buy his story. she said susan would never walk away from her children, describes her brother as a controlling man who manipulated his wife. >> it's hard to hear them slander her this way. these things are completel

miguel almaguer is outside of los angeles. miguel, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. four hikers are missing after local creeks and rivers flooded last night. meantime, here in the foothills it is sandbags and wood keeping the mud back for now but many are bracing for more wild, wet weather. record rain, 12 inches in parts of southern california t is already being called the storm of the decade. but with another five to ten inches on the way, forecasters say the worst is yet to come. outside of los angeles, in the foothills, homes are fortified. thousands of sandbags, the first line of defense. the threat is massive mud slides. in 2009, vegetation in this area burned in the state's largest wildfire. if the rain-soaked ground gives way, landslides could swallow entire blocks. >> we live in a neighborhood that was tagged or named paradise valley when it was lost in 1963. now, sort of paradise lost is a big part of their lives. >> reporter: the highway patrol says rain a factor in hundreds of accidents,