New Slide Damage Feared as Rainfall Resumes

A steady rain pelted Orange County Sunday night, portending a full-fledged storm that could dump another one to two inches on the region, and reviving fears of more damage to Anaheim Hills homes devastated by last month’s downpour.

The National Weather Service issued an urban flood advisory Sunday night for coastal and valley areas from Orange to Santa Barbara counties, warning motorists to avoid flooded streets and intersections.

In Anaheim Hills, where 46 homes have been evacuated because of landslides aggravated by heavy rains, city officials passed out sandbags to residents Sunday morning in anticipation of the next storm. Meanwhile, city crews continued to pump 200,000 gallons of water each day from the underground water table, and to seal cracks in pavement and patios.

“We’re all waiting very patiently to see what the rain will do,” said Dennis Schmidt, Anaheim spokesman.

A low-pressure system in the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles west of Los Angeles was moving east and northeast Sunday evening, pushing a band of tropical moisture ahead of it, said Dan Bowman, meteorologist for WeatherData, which does weather forecasting for The Times.

By 4 p.m. Sunday, a mere 0.04 inches of rain had fallen in Santa Ana and 0.02 in Dana Point, Bowman said. The rain grew heavier Sunday night, but no updated rainfall totals were available.

By 9:45 p.m., however, flooding had closed Pacific Coast Highway in both directions in Huntington Beach between Warner Avenue and Golden West Street. About the same time, a traffic accident on the rain-slicked Riverside Freeway west of Harbor Boulevard closed the westbound fast lane, though authorities expected to reopen the lane within an hour.

The California Highway Patrol reported numerous minor traffic accidents on county freeways late Sunday.

County roads prone to flooding during heavy rains were still passable, authorities reported shortly before 10 p.m.

The new storm front, moving quickly at about 25 to 30 m.p.h., was expected to hit with its full force today and continue into Tuesday, Bowman said.

“The heaviest rains will be in the mountains, but as much as an inch will fall in coastal areas,” Bowman said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would open a disaster application center at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 8078 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills for residents who wish to apply for relief because of damage to their homes. Members of the Red Cross canvassed the area Sunday taking inventory of damaged homes in preparation for the FEMA disaster application procedure.

The county, where at least $63.5 million in damages were attributed to last month’s storm, qualified for millions of dollars in federal relief aid when President Clinton declared it a disaster area Wednesday.