Light Rain Leaves Laguna Unscathed : Weather: Mudslides are averted in county areas ravaged by October wildfires. No more rainfall is expected this week.

Braced for the worst, Canyon Acres resident Peter Ott could not sleep as rain began to pelt his rooftop early Sunday.

About 2 a.m., Ott crawled out of bed, grabbed an umbrella and flashlight, and headed outside to assess how his neighborhood was handling the rainfall.

This time it was good news for the Canyon Acres community, as well as the rest of fire-ravaged Laguna Beach and for a slide-plagued neighborhood of Anaheim Hills. Less than a quarter inch of rain sprinkled throughout the county Sunday and clear skies are predicted for the week.

“We had no problems, it was just a steady rain, but you’re on edge, you can’t sleep when you start to hear the rain,” said Ott, a 40-year resident of the enclave, an offshoot of Laguna Canyon. “So I finally just got up.”

A light stream of black, ash-laden water trickled down narrow, two-lane Canyon Acres Drive in front of Ott’s 50-year-old home, but none of the dangerous mudslides that have shadowed the city since the Oct. 27 fire destroyed 366 homes. A total of 44 homes were destroyed in the Canyon Acres neighborhood alone.

“We had no problems, really. The rainfall was mild and the street was just trickling with a kind of tar. It’s horrible stuff,” Ott said.

Residents of Anaheim Hills, where nearly 50 homes were evacuated because of a 25-acre landslide last January, had a similar fitful night. Any amount of rainfall makes them nervous, said resident Mike Clayton.

“We haven’t noticed anything today, but usually it takes several days for the rain to make a difference,” said Clayton, 50, a Ford employee who moved to Anaheim Hills from Detroit in 1992. “This is expansive soil and it expands like a sponge with any moisture.”

Last summer, about 250 Anaheim Hills residents filed claims with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California alleging that a leaky pipeline had contributed to soil damage. Officials from MWD have inspected the area and maintain that no leaks did occur.

In June, the same residents filed claims against the city, alleging that city officials knowingly allowed homes to be built on an ancient landslide. The claims also allege that leaky city pipelines contributed to the problems.

As the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 17 slide nears, Anaheim Hills residents are crossing their fingers in anticipation, Clayton said. Heavy rains caused the land to slip as much as 14 inches in some areas.

“It’s a stressful situation. That’s all we really think about,” Clayton said. “The big fear here is what will happen when we really get some rain. Last year it was in January.”

Weather forecasters are predicting that rain is over for this week. The storm that drifted southeast through the county from the Point Conception area is continuing to move south and weaken, said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Brack predicted fair and mostly sunny skies today, with warmer weather and perhaps gusty Santa Ana winds throughout the week. High temperatures today should hit the upper 50s or low 60s in the afternoons and approach 70 later in the week.

“It should continue to be a little warmer through Christmas,” Brack said.