Rainfall Expected to Taper Off, but Damage Figure Increases

Orange County’s extraordinarily wet winter is expected to continue today, with forecasters predicting that a night of sometimes heavy rain Tuesday will be followed by scattered showers decreasing this afternoon or evening.

On the bright side, the National Weather Service this morning plans to lift its flash flood watch, county officials don’t anticipate flood or slide damage, and Thursday may be only cloudy.

“The soil is saturated and most of the rain is running off, but at this point there is no indication (of) slides,” public works manager Tom Connelie said Tuesday. Also, he said, the storm channel system seemed to be holding up well.

The damage estimate from the recent series of storms rose again Tuesday, with the release of figures that for the first time included the expense of repairing private property.

William L. Zaun, the county’s public works director, told the County Board of Supervisors that the damage total has reached $57.5 million, including $46.5 million for public facilities, $9.2 million for private property, and $1.75 million in damage to property whose ownership--public or private--is still undetermined.

The total is likely to grow further as damage surveys are completed, Zaun said. As of Wednesday, about 10 inches of rain had fallen in Orange County since the first of the year, which is two-thirds of the annual rainfall in an average year, said Mel Newman, a county specialist who monitors rainfall.