Trees, Mud, Rocks Fall Under Storm’s Assault

Lydia Sulc was jolted awake by a loud crash Sunday morning.

She braced herself for the burglar she feared was breaking into her Woodland Hills home. But the culprit turned out to be a 20-foot tree that had been ripped from the ground by the wind and rain, then dumped onto her red-tile roof.

“We were afraid to open the door,” she said. “We just looked out the window.”

The tree stood on city property several feet from Sulc’s front lawn in the 22000 block of Del Valle Street. It had littered her yard with leaves for years and was badly in need of a trim, she said.

Her husband, Joe, called Los Angeles city tree trimmers in 1981.

“They said, ‘They’ll come, they’ll come,” Joe Sulc recalled. “But they never came and here we are in 1988.”

After cutting back branches to get out his front door Sunday morning, Sulc telephoned the city’s emergency number to report the incident. He said he was told to wait his turn--that there were 15 calls ahead of his.

“We’ve been very, very busy,” Operator 16, who declined to give her name, said later that day. Meanwhile, Joe Sulc tried to assess the damage to his house.

“I suppose it’s done plenty,” he said.

The rain and wind that pelted the Southland on Sunday also triggered minor traffic accidents, power failures and mud slides throughout the San Fernando Valley.

Rain Triggers Slides

A rock slide occurred Sunday morning on Malibu Canyon Road, and a mud slide was reported on Topanga Canyon Boulevard north of Circle Trail.

About 1,600 residents scattered throughout the Valley were without power for part of the day, said Valerie Roberts Gray, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

And the winter storm put a damper on Sunday morning’s half-marathon along Ventura Boulevard. Up to 2,400 people were expected to run the 13.1-mile course between Canoga and Coldwater Canyon avenues, but the inclement weather kept many of them away, said Pat Connelly, coach of the Basin Blues, the running club that sponsored the race.

An estimated 1,200 people, some wearing plastic garbage bags to protect themselves, braved the wind and rain to run in the race.

Parts of eastbound Ventura Boulevard were closed from 7:30 to about 10:30 a.m. There were few traffic-related problems because of the light turnout, authorities said.

Leaflets Distributed

Leaflets illustrating the route were distributed in surrounding neighborhoods, but some motorists still were caught off guard.

“I’m freaking out,” said Leslie Altman of Tarzana, who was late for her exercise class. “This is so crazy; they should hold these charity things in the parks.”

Proceeds from the race will benefit St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.