THE SOUTHLAND DELUGE : Houses Under the Weather : Storm: Residents try to hold back raging water with sandbags and shovels. Most lose.

When the rain came Wednesday and the waters began to roar in the channel behind the house, Elva Ybarra couldn’t help but tease her sister-in-law. It’ll be a flood, the 17-year-old joked. Watch it or I’ll toss you in!

With a month-old baby in her arms, Helen Ybarra was worried--and with good reason. The water continued to rise. And rise.

At about noon, the roaring torrent crested the top of the concrete-walled channel. It cascaded across the yard, flowed into her small bungalow on Melrose Street in Buena Park and washed up against a dozen other homes abutting the flood channel.

“I grabbed up the baby and the baby’s diapers and we got out of there quick,” said Helen Ybarra.

They were among scores of people in Orange County uprooted or inconvenienced by the torrential downpour that struck Southern California beginning Tuesday, dumping more than two inches in some spots in a matter of a few hours.

From the hillsides of South County to the pancake-flat flood plains of the north, residents wielded sandbags and shovels to battle the rising runoff in hopes of protecting their prized properties.

But in many cases the water won.

Four or five inches flooded Fran Bauer’s home in Orange Park Acres, pouring into a living room addition the family was building. Outside, county maintenance crews spent the afternoon frantically laying sandbags to help divert water that was streaming down Meads Avenue toward the Bauer residence.

“I came home and noticed a little rain and then it all came down at once,” Bauer said.

In Laguna Beach, four homes were flooded at midafternoon along Laguna Canyon Road, 20 dogs and four cats had to be evacuated from the nearby Coastal Kennel and several businesses in downtown Laguna were also hit by rising waters.

Nine people renting a house along Laguna Creek had to be evacuated after a torrent of water broke through a gate in the yard, hammered in a side door, roared into the house and out the front door. The water mark crested at 3 1/2 feet. Water soaked the carpet, sofas and other furniture.

For a while, family members tried to stuff clothing under the door to keep the water out, “but we didn’t have enough clothing,” said Joel Garcia, 9.

Joel’s mother, Esubia, rushed home from work after she heard about the flood. “She was afraid we were drowned,” said the boy, who called the Fire Department for help when the flood waters began to rise.

The boy shares the house with his parents, two siblings and another family of four. They planned to spend the night at the Presbyterian Church in Laguna Beach, which maintains a shelter for the homeless during the winter.

Morgan McMahon, Red Cross disaster services coordinator, said the three other homes were not habitable, but that the families wanted to stay and lay down sandbags to prevent further damage.

Across the county, residents and merchants alike were hefting sandbags in anticipation of more rain. Sandbag companies reported a booming business as police and fire departments referred flood-prone residents to private companies.

“It’s a zoo,” said Brook Thompson, a secretary at Sand-Cal Inc. in Anaheim. “We’ve been taking orders and doing the best we can. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”

The unflagging rain also had residents along landslide-prone hillsides worried. In Laguna Beach, homeowners just above Bluebird Canyon were being threatened by mudslides, said Bob Scruggs, the Fire Department’s press information officer.

Just down the coast, the Ben Brown resort was battered by a powerful flash flood that roared down Aliso Creek.

Shirley Allan, a bookkeeper at the resort, said the water “came through the office so fast I couldn’t believe it. It started out slowly, then there was like a huge wave. All of a sudden it just rushed right in the door.”

“It hit with a flurry. I saw the water rush over the brick wall toward the hotel,” said Ed Slymen, the resort’s general manager. “I’d say it came up about three feet, about waist-high.”

Only six suites were occupied, and those staying there were taken out in the bucket of a tractor, said Slymen.

In Huntington Beach, the Red Cross opened an evacuation shelter at Ocean View High School after flooding was reported at nearby apartments and townhomes. Officials were expecting 85 evacuees.

“We know there are at least 16 homes flooded in that area and more are anticipated,” Red Cross spokeswoman Judy Iannaccone said.

At the intersection of Corsican Drive and Bardon Lane in Huntington Beach, water in a drainage channel rose six feet within a matter of minutes, flooding the surrounding streets and trapping some residents and motorists in their cars.

Cheryl Davidson, 37, of Huntington Beach was picking up her son from school when she saw another car stalled in an intersection with a father and four young children stuck inside.

“The water was so high, they couldn’t get out,” Davidson said. “It was one man with four kids and I kept asking him if he could swim. And he said, ‘No.’ It really scared me because I was really concerned with the children in the car.” Davidson trudged into the water and helped the man get the children out.

After the rain subsided across the county, residents emerged to clear out drains and clean up the flotsam left by the receding waters.

Back in Buena Park, Helen Ybarra and her husband, Eduardo, retreated to a friend’s house to spend the night. The floor of their home was coated with a ring of mud.

Elva Ybarra, who shares a bungalow next door with her sister, Rosa Bessette, was left to begin cleaning up the mess of mud, leaves and tree branches.

“When we were kids, we thought it would be fun to see (the channel) overflow,” said Bessette, 21, who has lived in the house for 17 years. “But we never dreamed it would happen. Now we’re hysterical.”

For Elva, the experience elicited a solemn vow about her sister-in-law: “I’m never going to tease her again.”

Times staff writers Leslie Berkman, Davan Maharaj, Gebe Martinez, Tammerlin Drummond, David Reyes, Jeffrey A. Perlman and correspondent Len Hall contributed to this story.

Draining Off the Deluge

Rainstorms can flood streets, storm drains and water channels, because much of the flood control system in older parts of Orange County has yet to be upgraded.

Street Flooding: Streets may have dropped several inches over time, allowing water to pool instead of drain. Some intersections simply lack drains. Some streets are intended to serve as reservoirs during severe storms, holding water until storm drains can carry it away.

Earthen Channels: Many channels were originally built by farmers to carry run-off from their fields. Now that Orange County is urbanized, leaving less farmland to absorb water, channels carry heavier run-off. In channels that have not been fully upgraded, water may spill over levees.

Concrete Channels: Upgraded concrete channels can carry more water than their earthen counterparts. But when there is too much water in some channels, flaps will close to prevent channel overflow. That might cause a backup in the storm drain.

Storm Drains Full: Storm drains may be too small to handle a large amount of rainfall in a short time. Water may back up onto streets until drains can empty.

Lack of Pumping Power: Coastal cities may pump water from some storm drains into drainage channels. During a heavy storm, pumps may not be able to move water fast enough, causing drains to back up onto the streets.

SOURCE: Huntington Beach City Engineer Robert Eichblatt; City of Irvine

Researched by DANNY SULLIVAN / Los Angeles Times