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. >> reporter: after a week of wet weather, california was hit with a knockout punch wednesday. in orange county neighbors couldn't stop the hills from giving way. roads became rivers, rising water turned to solid mud. in laguna beach, 30 rescues. jeremy hess' home was swamped with four feet of water. his grandmother got out through a window. >> we went out through our upstairs neighbor and took shelter with them for a while. it was pretty scary. >> reporter: in los angeles a half year's worth of rain in a single week. amtrak from l.a. to san diego was shut down. roads impassable. six counties remain under a state of emergency. qualcomm stadium in san diego is an island. 47 people at a nearby hotel were rescued when a creek burst its banks. all across the west raging rivers caused problems. in littlefiel

karen hernandez had to make a life-or-death decision as waters surrounded her home. the second floor window was her only way out. >> i started running. by the time i knew it, i didn't have no house. the rocks, the mud, everything came through. >> reporter: linda hess says she had moments to escape the gushing water and credits her visiting grandson saving her life. >> i've like we got to get out of here rye now or we'll die. >> the san diego river overflowed its banks sending six feet of water gushing into a hotel. floodwaters entered the city's stadium one day before the poinsettia bowl n. orange county, five inches of rain assist fell in a matter of hours turning streets into rivers. here in laguna beach the rain stopped hours ago but crews are still cleaning up the debrew from the floods. this is being described as the worst storm to hit this area since 1997. >> look at this pant. you can see how high the water went. >> reporter: heidi miller has owned this dress shop more than 20 years. >> until you come down to see it, you don't get it. >> reporter: miller says

. >> 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 in the corner, along with the kid's gifts. their graduation pictures were on the wall. i was so very proud of them. they worked so hard. their diplomas are gone, everything. >> reporter: her husband, al, a salesman, was working during the storm. he needed to see inside. >> we're kneeling down and touching the sealing. that's just incredible. >> reporter: elsewhere, mudslides weren't the only concern. in palmdale, motorists had to be rescued when the mohave river overflowed. along the coast, 12 miles of beaches were closed because of pollution worries. at qualcomm stadium, ground crews worked around the clock to clean the grounds before tonight's poinsettia bowl. back in highland, officials say it will be weeks before all the mud is cleaned up and life returns to normal. but for

karen hernandez had no way out twept through the second story wind window. >> the water rose so fast and the boulders coming in. everything just went. the furniture. the kids' christmas, everything just went. we have nothing. >> it's not just rain. it is intense. >> reporter: days of pounding rain meant the ground could absorb no more. huge pools of water surrounded the san diego hotel. guests had to scramble to higher floors waiting to be rescued by boat. >> way under way. >> reporter: nearby at the qualcomm stadium, 50% of the field submerged with the poinsettia bowl set for tonight. highland park bridge under a sea of sludge. laguna beach saw the entire downtown coated in mud. >> we had eight claims by about 9:15 this morning. >> reporter: insurance adjusters could barely keep up or stand up and store owners are hoping to salvage what they can with just two shopping days left until christmas. >> we need to shore up and make sure that if anymore storms come it's not going to cause more damage. >> reporter: as the storms move east, homes in arizona losing ground. four have already b