With Rains Come Tragedy

The heaviest downpour so far this year drenched Orange County on Monday, causing flooding, snarling traffic and triggering numerous accidents, including a grisly rear-end collision that killed two men riding in a trunk and critically injured two others.

The rush-hour accident in San Clemente closed all but one of the northbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway, causing a three-hour traffic jam that stretched into San Diego County, a CHP spokeswoman said.

Carol Kelley said four men, all undocumented immigrants from Mexico, were riding in the trunk of Honda Accord at 4:40 p.m. when its driver made “an unsafe lane change” just north of Avenida Palizada directly into the path of a Ford van.

The driver of the van hit his brakes but was unable to avoid smashing into the back of the Honda, pushing two of the men through the trunk and into the car’s back seat.

The Honda driver leaped from the car and ran across the freeway, “leading witnesses to think he was running to a call box,” Kelley said. “But he kept on running right past the call box and off the freeway.”

Two of the men died at the scene. The other two were taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. None of them were identified.

Officers were able to interview the least-injured victim, whose right leg was fractured and torn, Kelley said. The man, age 39, told officers one of the dead men was his 33-year-old brother.

“He said all four had been picked up by a ‘coyote’ and were being taken to Los Angeles. He said he was going to get on a plane and fly to New York,” Kelley said.

After the first collision, the driver of the van also struck another Ford van, sending it toward the median. Neither driver was injured.

Anyone with information about the driver of the Honda is asked to call the CHP at (714) 661-6215.

The rain caused problems on the highways throughout the day.

At one point, said CHP dispatcher Doug Showalter, “we probably had 25 pending [accidents]. Lots of cars hydroplaning, lots of solo-accident victims. It was just not good out there.”

In Newport Beach, authorities late Monday night were frantically trying to prevent a spill from 150 paint cans, dumped by a pickup driver in a parking lot, from washing over streets.

Newport Fire and Marine Lt. John Blauer said the pickup driver had just crossed Newport Bay on the Balboa Island Ferry, where the ferry operator had smelled leaking chemicals in the bed of the truck, and had gone to a private parking lot at Agate Avenue and Park Lane.

“In the darkness of night he dumped all this stuff all over the place and then split,” Blauer said. “Now they’ve got a whole mess sitting in a parking lot,” Blauer said.

Hazardous materials crews worked into the rainy night with sand bags and plastic tarps to keep the paint from washing into a residential neighborhood and the bay.

Weather officials said the deluge, expected to dump as much as two inches of rain on Orange County, would likely continue through most of today, though at a slower pace.

“It’s going to stay cloudy and generally kind of rainy through Tuesday, with maybe some breaks,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

The downpour was accompanied by gusty winds. In Newport Beach, Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies in the harbor division clocked winds at 40 to 45 knots late Monday.

In Costa Mesa, flooding forced police to reroute traffic around parts of East 19th Street and Harbor and Newport boulevards. In Huntington Beach, police closed the low-lying stretch of Pacific Coast Highway near the Bolsa Chica Reserve between Seapoint and Warner avenues.

“That area is barely above sea level and prone to flooding,” said Lt. Bruce Kelley.

County fire stations had sandbags on hand to distribute to residents in the event of flooding. Also, swift-water rescue teams in Mission Viejo, Irvine, Placentia and Buena Park were on alert.

“We’re monitoring the situation,” said Scott Brown, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. “This is something we expect at this time of year. It’s a reminder that we live in an environment that’s prone to fires, floods and earthquakes.”

The downpour resulted from a “very big” storm system moving down from Alaska and combining with tropical moisture off the Hawaiian Island, he said. The rain is likely to decrease today and clear by Wednesday, he said.

Brack said the rainfall total would likely surpass that from last month’s storm, which dropped about 1.3 inches of rain on the county, and the amount from the biggest storm of 1995, which deposited 1.39 inches on Dec. 23 and 24.

The sunshine in the future was little comfort for Monday’s commuters, who had to deal with numerous spin-outs and fender-benders, especially on the Riverside Freeway.

Many of the accidents involved vehicles driven too fast for the conditions, said Michelle DiMaggio said. “Someone hits their brakes and spins out and goes over the side.”

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Lee Romney and Michael G. Wagner and correspondent John Canalis.

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Water Hazards

Rain-slick freeways can be dangerous, especially for motorists who seldom drive in wet weather. If your vehicle begins to skid, resist the impulse to jerk the steering wheel and slam on the brakes, which aggravate a skid. To recover from a skid:

1. Release brakes to unlock wheels, take foot off accelerator, steer in direction of skid.

2. Lightly tap brakes while car straightens.

3. Continue to slow car until control is regained.

Other Considerations

Hydroplaning: In heavy rain or on oily segments of road, tires can briefly lose contact with the surface, a condition called “hydroplaning.” Lightly apply brakes until tires grasp the road again.

Distance: Maintain space on all sides to brake or maneuver; a car length is recommended, but not usually a freeway reality.

Brakes: May become soaked in deep puddles, making stopping difficult. Dry them by simultaneously pressing gas and brake pedals. Do this only until brakes begin to work again.

Best advice: Leave early and drive slowly.

Source: Times reports