By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON,Associated Press Writer

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — Residents evacuated from foothill communities deluged by weekend mudslides north of Los Angeles were allowed to return home Sunday as crews moved debris and started clearing catch basins in anticipation of more rain later in the week.

The final evacuation order was lifted for about 70 homes in the Paradise Valley area of La Canada Flintridge, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Guillermina Saldana. Only residents with valid identification were allowed back into the neighborhood that was choked with a thick layer of mud and debris during a pummeling rain early Saturday.

Forty-three homes in the La Canada Flintridge area were damaged and 500 more evacuated Saturday after mud and water overflowed basins and surged into streets, taking furniture, cars and concrete barriers with it. Nine houses were declared unsafe to enter. About 25 vehicles were damaged.

"In my 20 years of fire service, this is the first time I've seen this much devastation caused by a weather system," Los Angeles County Fire Battalion Chief Mike Brown said while walking past suburban homes with thigh-deep mud in their yards.

Los Angeles County public works crews used bulldozers and other heavy machinery to move boulders, scoop out catch basins and clear roads.

"That series of storms two weeks ago, we took about 300,000 cubic yards of material out of our debris basins," L.A. County Department of Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer said. "This is going to be about the same."

Spencer said the still-soupy mud in the basins was incredibly difficult to remove the day after a storm, and would take weeks to clear. More rain is forecast to arrive Tuesday.