Rains Add to the Misery in Soggy Areas

When it rained Tuesday, it didn’t pour.

At least not in many places, or for long.

But although the much-heralded storm came in with more of a mumble than a roar, the 2.09 inches of rain measured in Woodland Hills fell on already saturated ground, adding still more misery to the ranks of the Los Angeles Basin’s water-logged.

Last week’s torrents were bad enough for 58-year-old Nancy Seaman of Topanga. The newly created rapids that churned through Topanga Canyon took with them the road that leads to her home just above Topanga Canyon Boulevard, leaving a 30-foot hole in place of the road.

After the rain damage last week, Seaman and her 69-year-old husband were forced to park on the boulevard and then hike up a 600-foot incline leading to the back of their house.

Monday night’s rains made even that impossible.

“It is miserable,” Seaman said. “It was like walking on glass with mud on it.” Seaman said she had no choice but to forgo work Tuesday, costing her $125. Seaman, an elementary school teacher, said her sick days were long ago used up coping with earlier weather-related disasters.

National Weather Service meteorologists say the Southland has a bit more to weather. They expect more showers today, highs in the upper 50s and lower 60s, with diminishing rain tonight. The chance of rain Thursday stands at about 30%.

Rain at UCLA, meanwhile, broke all-time records for monthly precipitation, with 18.3 inches by Tuesday afternoon--with rain still falling. The previous monthly high of 18.37 was recorded in February, 1980.

Those people who did make it to work had to navigate hazardous and slippery roadways. One Monday night crash sent two drivers to local hospitals, one in serious condition.

Los Angeles city firefighters extricated Maria Macias, 22, of Reseda from the wreckage of her Jeep Cherokee before taking her to Northridge Hospital Medical Center. The other driver, Holly Toomians, 32, of Canoga Park was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center.

“Apparently the streets were wet and one of the cars couldn’t stop,” said Detective John O’Tool of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Northern Los Angeles County had its own problems: Officials in the Santa Clarita Valley were forced to close two thoroughfares. A blocked storm drain left California 126 in Ventura County under two feet of mud, so authorities closed an 18-mile stretch of the road between Val Verde in the Santa Clarita Valley and Fillmore in Ventura County for about six hours.

Along Sierra Highway, between San Fernando Road and the Los Angeles city limit, an unfortunately timed resurfacing project wreaked havoc.

And although workers labored though the night Monday to clear a clogged 84-inch culvert below California 126, two miles east of Fillmore, it overflowed at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday, just in time for the morning rush. Caltrans spokeswoman Patricia Reid said the overflow forced California Highway Patrol officers and Caltrans officials to turn westbound traffic around just before Chiquito Canyon Road near Val Verde and send motorists to Ventura via the San Diego and Simi Valley freeways.

The eastbound side of the road was closed at Fish Hatchery Road, just east of Fillmore. Crews removed the mud and reopened the road by 11:30 a.m., Reid said. But they were forced to dump the mud they removed from the road near the culvert, raising the possibility the mud could again block the culvert in the next rain, she said.

Authorities in Studio City reported what appeared to be the demise of a dog in the Los Angeles River, despite the efforts of the Los Angeles Fire Department to save it.

The small dog was sighted on a silt island in the flood control channel near Fair Avenue and Dilling Street, but escaped from Animal Regulation workers and then also escaped from two members of the Fire Department’s Swift Water Rescue Team, said department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

A rescuer rappelled 25 feet from an overpass to retrieve the dog, but the frightened animal ran into the water and was carried downstream, Humphrey said. A second team, located downstream, was unable to spot it.

“The possibility of the dog surviving in the L. A. River is very slim, but we hold out hope,” Humphrey said. “Dogs are very resourceful.”

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What’s With The Weather? Torrential winter rains in normally sunny L.A. and balmy days in the normally frigid Northeast are side effects of a powerful tropical ocean current called El Nino, which periodically disrupts worldwide weather. *

How It Works El Nino is born of a dance between the wind and water; no one is certain what causes it. 1. Every 3 to 7 years, there is an unusual warming of waters in the tropical Pacific. *

2. Trade winds weaken. *

3. A warm water mass begins moving eastward. *

4. Those movements fuel the creation of more rain clouds. *

5. The path of the jet stream is redirected, altering storm tracks. *

Tracking El Nino In El Nino years, shown in white, there is a marked relationship between ocean temperature and rainfall. *

Damage From the Last Big Hit The economic toll of the last great El Nino, in 1982-83: Flooding Bolivia: $300 million Ecuador, northern Peru: $650 million Cuba: $170 million U.S. gulf states: $1.3 billion *

Hurricanes Tahiti: $50 million Hawaii: $230 million *

Drought / Fires Southern Africa: $1 billion Southern India, Sri Lanka: $150 millionPhilippines: $450 million Indonesia: $500 million Australia: $2.5 billion Southern Peru, Western Bolivia: $240 million Mexico, Central America: $600 million Total: $8.1 billion Related story, A1 Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration * Measured along the equator, in Fahrenheit. ** At Christmas Island, in inches.