california tonight. reporter: tonight across the southwest they re doing their best with the destruction tropical storm hilary left behind. in san bernardino national forest panic and devastation. a massive mudslide barreling down the highway sunday evening. firefighters stranded. the debris narrowly missing resident vicky ross s house. all the way across and all the way down the street. reporter: what did it sound like? wse than thunder. i didn t know if it was going to come over the top of this hill or into the house. reporter: now the race is on to clear the roads and free a town trapped by the mud. residents say the mountain just gave way and came pouring down this road. what s left of six feet of mud. you can see just this is like quicksand. and officials say that until this is clear an entire town is cut off. across the southwest officials assess the damage. in the mojave desert an 18-wheeler up its windows in mud. with rainfall records set across the region