Storm-Ravaged Communities Brace for Another Blow : Weather: Mexican soldiers and police are dispatched to aid Tijuana neighborhoods buried in mud and debris. Three to six more inches of rain is forecast for the Southland.

A massive cleanup operation stretched from Malibu to the devastated city of Tijuana on Friday as flood-damaged communities cleared away mud and debris from the latest storm and got ready for the next one.

Hundreds of Tijuana residents were digging out after deadly torrents tore through the city late Wednesday and early Thursday, leaving at least eight dead, three missing and 1,000 homeless.

Although the water in Tijuana had receded by Friday morning, many stricken neighborhoods were still largely buried in tons of mud. The Mexican government dispatched 1,000 soldiers and police to stricken areas to help with the cleanup and guard against looting.

Damage also was heavy just north of the border, where Gov. Pete Wilson declared a state of emergency late Thursday after runoff from the Tijuana River flooded homes and ranches. San Diego County emergency crews and Coast Guard helicopters plucked at least 75 people from their roofs, where they were forced to take refuge as the floodwaters rose.

In addition, widespread flood and mud damage was reported in Riverside County, where flash floods raced down canyon washes Thursday night, and homes and business beside the overflowing Santa Ana River were left awash.

Forecasters said more warm, moist air from the tropical Pacific is expected to flow in over Southern California and northern Baja California by tonight, with up to three inches more rain in the valleys, up to six more in the foothills and up to eight more in the mountains. And still more rain is forecast for the middle of next week.

The National Weather Service issued another flash flood and urban flood warning for tonight and Sunday for Southern California and the border area.

“The ground is saturated , and any more rain will cause additional problems in the Tijuana area,” said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc.

“I feel terrible,” Jorge Fernandez said Friday as he surveyed his Tijuana home and the two feet of mud in the front room, still dominated by a Christmas tree. “This is a hell of a thing.”

His aunt, Goyita Fernandez, was one of those who died in the flood.

Outside, Fernandez’s three cars were half-buried in the mud. One of the four houses on his property had been swept away.

“It’s flooded before, but never like this,” Fernandez said. “It’s all those houses and villas they are building above the canyon that are causing the water to come down,” he said, blaming his misery on government failure to demand an adequate drainage system.

Contrary to initial reports, much of the damage occurred in established neighborhoods such as Fernandez’s, not just in the ramshackle neighborhoods that cover many of Tijuana’s hillsides. Fernandez’s houses were built in Piedrera Canyon 42 years ago by his father, who died Dec. 19.

“I’m glad he died before seeing this,” Fernandez said. “It would have killed him.”

Fernandez lives below the Free Road to Ensenada that runs south from Tijuana. The canyon’s barrios--Chula Vista, Gavilonda and others--were among the areas hardest hit by the floods. Torrential rains caused a small concrete channel to overflow, spilling over into established neighborhoods and wrecking hundreds of homes.

The main street in Piedrera Canyon, Calle Miguel Aleman, was littered with cars and debris that had been swept along by the raging torrent. Several of the destroyed cars lay in pieces, torn apart as though by bombs, testimony to the force of the flood.

Residents said the floods struck with a sudden and deadly impact Wednesday night after a daylong downpour. Piedrera Canyon resident Maria Alicia Carbajal said she first knew of the seriousness about 11 p.m., when neighbors attempting to flee the rising water began climbing through the front window of her house.

She said that she, her family and the neighbors scrambled to her roof to escape the water, which rose as high as seven feet above the street level.

Tijuana officials said they had no precise count of the homes destroyed. Tijuana Fire Chief Carlos Gopar Martinez said those left homeless were being housed in shelters around the city.

Eight bodies were recovered. Three other people were missing and presumed dead, according to officials at Tijuana’s municipal morgue. Of the eight killed, one had not been been identified--a boy, about 2 years old, who was found in the Barrio Jose Maria Vasconcellos.

Six of the deaths were by drowning, the coroner said. Another victim died by electrocution and another of a heart attack.

Those missing were presumed to be buried in the mud and debris.

The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese and Monrovia-based World Vision, an international relief and development organization, announced Friday that they have established emergency funds to aid the victims in Tijuana. Spanish-language radio station KTNQ in Los Angeles began collecting food, clothing, medicine and bottled water for shipment to Red Cross officials in Tijuana.

In San Diego County, Mayor Susan Golding said San Diego is postponing major cleanup efforts until the arrival of tonight’s storm.

She said that if the rainfall is heavy, roads could become impassable, “so we are advising people in low-lying valleys to get supplies in and be prepared not to go out.”

In Riverside County, the biggest problems on Friday were along the Santa Ana River, where rising waters swamped a 277-acre farm in Norco, flooding two houses and other outbuildings and threatening to undermine two bridges.

The runoff continued to pour down the river channel on Friday, and officials said they expected part of the runway at Corona’s municipal airport to be flooded by this morning as waters backed up behind Prado Dam.

On Thursday night, the rising river overflowed onto the farmland along the north bank, submerging several farm vehicles and flooding a dozen structures, including the two homes. More than 60 horses were evacuated from the property.

On the southern edge of Norco, water invaded several industrial buildings and buried about about 20 vehicles in an impound yard.

Even with the rising storm waters, the Prado flood control basin contained only about a quarter of its capacity by Friday afternoon.

In the unincorporated community of Pedley, between Riverside and Norco, mud swept into 12 homes on Thursday after a hillside being graded for construction slid down onto them. Two of the homes had to be evacuated.

The Orange Street bridge across the Santa Ana River in Redlands was severely undermined by floodwaters, and officials said repairs could take up to a year.

A bridge over the San Gorgonio River that led to 75 homes in Mias Canyon near Banning was washed away by storm waters Thursday night. A work crew began building a temporary replacement bridge on Friday, and police s said the residents had alternate access routes.

Friday afternoon in Kern County, officials ordered the evacuation of half a dozen mobile homes below Sand Dam, about seven miles east of Tehachapi when the dam began eroding after filling with runoff water. Four hours later, a small breach in the dam had lowered the water level, and the officials said the dam probably would hold.

In San Bernardino County, 22 homes were flooded by runoff water, most of them in the Victorviille area.

In Los Angeles County, Caltrans crews cleared away rocks and mud blocking canyon roads and acific Coast Highway in the Malibu area.

Beaches from Topanga Canyon south to Malaga Cove were closed Friday after the rains caused about 4 million gallons of partially treated sewage to flow into Santa Monica Bay.

Jack Petralia, an official with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said the rains overloaded sewage lines, spilling the sewage into Ballona Creek.

In the San Gabriel Mountains north of Glendora, floodwaters from the east fork of the San Gabriel River washed away scores of picnic tables and tore through the campgrounds of two private resorts.

Robert Brady, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman, said parts of the camping areas at Follows Camp and Camp Williams are “literally gone.”

No injuries were reported at either of the camps, which were started in the 19th-Century gold mining era and now are populated by permanent residents and visitors housed along the river.

“Folks are down along the river sandbagging now,” Judy Crowe, the cook-cashier at Camp Williams, said Friday. “One trailer had about two inches of water in it with mud up to the doors. We’ll have to dig that trailer out.”

Two concrete bridges were washed out at Follows Camp, where 230 residents live year-round, camp manager Joe Davison said. A third bridge was still intact.

Cascading mud and rocks forced the closure Friday of most of California 39, which winds north from Azusa into the San Gabriels.

Three ski areas in Angeles National Forest were forced to close. Rain washed the snowpack away at Mt. Waterman and Kratka Ridge, and the Mt. Baldy ski area was hit by rock- and mudslides blocking the two-lane road above Mt. Baldy Village.

Burback said rain should start falling here again by this afternoon, becoming heavy tonight, with more heavy rain throughout Sunday. He said the snow level in the mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin will be between 5,000 and 6,000 feet.

Except for a few, isolated showers, the rain will be over by Monday, Burback said, but more moist tropical air due in Tuesday should bring additional heavy rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Between 4 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Friday, a total of 0.7 of an inch of rain fell at the Los Angeles Civic Center, raising the season’s total there to 10.13 inches. The normal season’s total for the date is 5.57 inches.

Malnic reported from Los Angeles and Kraul from Tijuana. Times staff writers Tom Gorman in Riverside County, Berkley Hudson in Monrovia and Nieson Himmel in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Southland Rain Watch

Rainfall figures for the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Friday. Season totals and norms are based on precipitation from July 1 to date. L.A. BASIN

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Avalon/Catalina 0.18 2.46 7.73 4.26 Culver City 0.75 2.17 8.32 4.77 Long Beach 0.30 3.40 9.41 6.00 L.A. Civic Center 0.70 4.29 10.13 5.57 L.A. Int’l Airport 0.56 4.52 10.33 4.35 Montebello 0.00 2.55 8.92 4.46 Santa Monica 0.51 2.51 6.63 4.42 Torrance 0.32 2.84 8.07 4.69 UCLA 1.69 4.89 12.06 5.82

VALLEYS/CANYONS

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Beaumont 2.68 6.92 15.60 5.49 Monrovia 1.83 5.68 16.69 NA Northridge 0.00 0.00 3.70 NA Pasadena 2.00 5.77 13.84 7.04 Riverside 0.63 3.62 8.23 3.75 San Bernardino 0.81 4.11 8.51 6.09 San Gabriel 1.62 5.58 15.39 6.03 Santa Clarita 0.44 4.17 9.66 6.29 Woodland Hills 0.81 3.14 10.18 5.78

ORANGE COUNTY

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Anaheim 0.39 3.51 10.30 NA Irvine 0.00 0.00 1.69 NA Laguna Beach 0.25 1.35 2.53 4.66 Lake Forest 1.28 4.29 10.26 NA Newport Beach 0.51 2.87 7.96 4.26 San Juan Cap. 0.40 4.35 9.71 NA Santa Ana 0.50 3.93 9.06 4.40

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Chula Vista 0.45 2.75 4.21 3.52 Coronado 0.29 2.80 6.06 NA Del Mar 0.51 2.51 6.48 NA Miramar 0.00 0.51 3.30 NA Oceanside 0.30 2.08 4.99 3.81 San Diego 0.30 2.30 5.41 4.18 Vista 1.10 2.60 6.30 5.27 Alpine 0.00 5.35 13.05 5.75 El Cajon 0.00 3.35 6.03 4.83 Escondido 1.10 5.55 11.12 6.14 Fallbrook 0.92 7.14 13.08 3.10 Poway 1.42 4.43 8.57 4.98 Ramona 1.45 6.08 8.80 5.94

SOUTHLAND MOUNTAINS

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Big Bear Lake 3.46 10.22 20.10 9.93 Cuyamaca Park 2.17 3.85 10.98 13.10 Mt. Laguna 3.40 10.61 24.07 NA Mt. Wilson 3.95 9.40 21.06 12.66 Palomar Mtn. 4.30 13.74 34.07 10.13

DESERTS

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Bishop 0.00 0.03 1.05 2.35 Death Valley 0.08 0.08 0.36 0.93 Lancaster 1.33 1.33 2.03 3.17 Borrego Springs 1.07 3.82 6.30 3.12 El Centro 0.74 2.11 3.28 1.56 Palm Springs 1.40 3.87 5.80 2.92 Thermal 0.00 0.32 1.12 1.79

SANTA BARBARA/VENTURA

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Ojai 1.21 1.44 5.84 6.98 Oxnard 1.48 2.16 5.38 5.03 Point Mugu 0.69 2.90 8.96 NA Santa Barbara 0.35 2.11 7.91 5.94 Santa Paula 1.20 2.41 3.47 6.10 Ventura 0.38 2.31 8.40 4.78

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm Bakersfield 0.17 0.75 4.76 1.97

NA indicates figures not available. In other cases, some totals may be incomplete because of missing station reports.

* Amount of rainfall since the last zero-precipitation day.

SOURCE: National Weather Service and WeatherData Inc.

How to Help

These groups are accepting money and donations of blankets, warm clothing, medicine, food, toys, tarps and building materials to help flood victims in Tijuana: American Red Cross--Disaster Relief Fund San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter P.O. Box 85224 San Diego, Calif. 92186 (619) 291-2620 (Monetary donations only.) Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee 335 H Street, Suite 203 Chula Vista, Calif. 91910 (619) 425-5080 DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia) Municipal Via Poniente Colonia Veinte de Noviembre Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico 011-52-66-81-0790 El Sol newspaper 2629 National Ave. San Diego, Calif. 92113 (619) 233-8496 KTNQ radio 6304 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. 90028 (Donations are being taken from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.) Los Angeles Archdiocese--Tijuana Relief Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Chancellor Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles 1531 West 9th St. Los Angeles, Calif. 90015 (213) 251-3215 (Monetary donations only.) Presidential Limousine 2085 Hotel Circle South San Diego, Calif. 92108 (619) 291-2820 Project Mercy, c/o Paula Claussen P.O. Box 1268 Poway, Calif. 92074 (619) 487-6854 World Vision Relief Fund P.O. Box 1131 Pasadena, Calif. 91131 (800) 423-4200 Compiled by Times researcher Nona Yates.