The hills came crashing down on Studio City

It had been raining for hours in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles when 60-year-old Scott Toro was startled by a loud rumble on Sunday evening. “I don't know how to describe it,” he said Monday morning. “Almost like a plane crashing or something.”

It was so loud he called 911.

The sound turned out to be a waterfall of mud and rocks thundering down the hill above Lockridge Road, a narrow street where Mr. Toro has lived for more than 20 years. The street winds to the foot of a steep ravine. It's the kind of hill that officials warned would be vulnerable to mudslides during record-breaking rains that fell on Sunday.

Mr. Toro looked into the darkness and saw that the mud from the hill had pushed his Honda Pilot into the Toyota Tacoma parked in the driveway in front of his house. Pieces of brick retaining walls toppled by the mud had crashed into the vehicles.

Officials urged Mr. Toro and other residents of the nine homes on Lockridge Road to flee. At a news conference on Monday, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley said firefighters had evacuated 16 people from homes on the street and moved some residents to emergency shelters.

“Thankfully no one was injured during this rescue,” she said.

Mr. Toro spent a nearly sleepless night at a relative's home. “I'm still nervous,” he said Monday as he huddled outside his home, wearing a bucket hat and raincoat. Fortunately, he said, the mud didn't end up in his house.

But across the street, city inspectors had red-tagged his neighbor's house, meaning it was too dangerous to occupy. Mud and rocks had exploded through their garage, sending their contents strewn across the hillside into the dirt that filled the mouths of storm drains.

At one point a lone football rolled down the street.

Sean Matsumoto and Andrea Holstein, who had lived down the street from the damaged homes for 13 years, walked slowly in galoshes down a street below Lockridge. They had quickly fled with their children and put their dog in the trunk of their car – there was no time to grab any belongings.

Mud had seeped into the front entrance, but the house had largely escaped damage. Ms. Holstein's parents, who also live nearby, were doing well, she said.

They were more concerned about their neighbors. Mr. Matsumoto was carrying a red plastic basket from CVS — he was looking for photos and memorabilia that might have been swiped from their neighbors' homes.

Soumya Karlamangla reporting contributed.