A Record Rain Falls, Commuters Crawl and Many Fenders Crunch

Rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl Wednesday morning as a record downpour created hazardous driving conditions that contributed to dozens of accidents on San Diego County freeways, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol reported about 50 accidents on county freeways during the morning rush hour, two to three times the number on a normal day. The CHP also estimated that as much as an hour and a half had been added to drivers’ commutes.

“Obviously, when there are crashes, that backs things up,” Officer Lloyd Needham said.

Needham said most of the accidents were of the fender-bender variety and none caused serious injuries or fatalities.

The .79 of an inch of rainfall at Lindbergh Field doubled the record for an April 20. The previous mark was .39 of an inch in 1983.

The rainfall triggered the flooding of some surface streets, primarily in low-lying areas of South San Diego, but caused little damage.

“We’re getting more than our share of wet streets, but nothing real bad,” said Lt. Ray Dobbs of the San Diego Police Department’s Southern Area Station.

About 300 households were affected by two brief power outages caused by tree branches falling on power lines, San Diego Gas & Electric spokesman Tom Murnane said.

The first blackout began at 6:20 a.m. and affected about 150 consumers in the Jamacha area, just north of Sweetwater Reservoir. Murnane said all power was restored by 8:15 a.m. The second occurred at 2:15 p.m. and affected about 150 customers in the Bonita area for about two hours, Murnane said.

Sewer lines that became overloaded with rainwater spilled about 75,000 gallons of watered-down sewage from a manhole at Rosewood Street and Mission Bay Drive in Pacific Beach, said Yvonne Regh, a spokeswoman for the Department of Water and Utilities.

The spill flowed into Mission Bay, prompting the county Department of Health Services to post the shore between the Visitor’s Information Center and De Anza Cove to warn swimmers of possible contamination.

But authorities throughout the county agreed that traffic tie-ups on freeways and surface streets were the biggest problem created by the storm.

Monica Zech, a helicopter traffic reporter for the Automobile Club of Southern California, said she spotted two or three accidents on every one of the county’s major roadways during her morning rounds.

“What usually happens is that people expect to leave at their usual time and get to work as normal,” Zech said. “And they expect to stop at the same amount of distance when they hit their brakes. And they don’t, so they get into accidents.”

Although the rain tapered off by mid-afternoon, the National Weather Service said that it would pick up again overnight.

Forecaster Wilbur Shigehara predicted a 50% to 60% chance of continued showers Wednesday night and this morning, dropping to 20% by tonight.

Shigehara said there will be partial clearing on Friday, but another storm front is expected to move into the San Diego area Saturday. Shigehara said the new storm will be much less severe than Wednesday’s.

Shigehara said that a winter-storm warning was in effect last night and tonight and that snowfall was expected in the mountains above 5,000 feet.

For the 24 hours ending at 4 p.m. Wednesday, rainfall totals were 1.02 inches at Brown Field; Del Mar, 1.15; El Cajon, .86; Escondido, 1.25; Fallbrook, 1.33; Imperial Beach, 1.00; Julian, .66; La Mesa, .97, and Palomar Mountain, 2.65.