15 Bizarre Photos of the SoCal Mud Invasion--The Aftermath of "a Year's Worth of Rain in Just One Week"

ABC News has one of the best reports on the rain-soaked disasters swallowing southern California; the communities of Highland and Loma Linda are among the hardest hit.

Southern California residents will get a break today from the wet weather that inundated the region with a year's worth of rain in just one week.

The series of storms that has pounded the area since last week has triggered mudslides, flooding, swift-water rescues and prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency for six counties.

But as the rain subsides and heads east, the clean up begins for areas hit the hardest by the strongest part of the Wednesday's storm.

In Laguna Beach, a wall of water four feet high poured through downtown, bringing with it a tide of mud. The heavy water has made driving nearly impossible near the Pacific coast, with puddles the size of lakes forcing road closures.

Another community that was drenched and damaged by mudslides was Dove Canyon, a community in Rancho Santa Margarita.

"When I stepped off the engine, (the mud) was about waist deep, and it was flowing rather rapidly," Capt. George Casario of the Orange County Fire Authority told ABC News Los Angeles affiliate KABC.

Firefighters said they performed 60 rescues in more than 30 homes.

On Wednesday morning, a mudslide devastated the town of Highland, Calif., near the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains.

Jasmine Martinez had to leave her home as mud poured down the hillside Wednesday.

"We tried to open the gate because the mud was blocking it," Martinez told ABC News Radio. "So we couldn't get out. We couldn't leave."

Most of the residents' cars are now buried in mud, and more than 20 homes were destroyed in an instant.

The Red Cross was on the ground in southern California earlier this week and could -- as always -- use a hand if you've got the ability.