Rain Causes Some Slips but No Slides

Heavy rains caused some flooding and a rash of accidents and hampered the search for a missing hiker in Ventura County on Monday, but slide-prone hillsides near fire-ravaged areas fared well under the downpour.

The National Weather Service said the storm had the potential to generate rainfall comparable to the storm of January 1995, which produced more than 10 inches of rainfall in the mountain areas of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. That storm caused mudslides and destroyed some houses in La Conchita, just north of Ventura.

Flash-flood watches were issued for the burn areas of Malibu, Ventura and Fillmore.

Today’s forecast calls for scattered showers, leading to more heavy rain tonight.

The California Highway Patrol responded to at least two dozen accidents and snarled traffic on county highways, but none resulted in major injuries. At 3 p.m., downed power lines in Ventura at Alessandro Drive closed traffic in both directions on Seaward Avenue for about 30 minutes.

Neighborhoods in Oxnard and Ventura had power outages during the late afternoon and evening. About 1,700 customers in Ventura were without power for more than an hour, and 5,700 residences and businesses in Oxnard lost power shortly after dark.

Dolores Taylor, senior hydrologist for the Ventura County Public Works Agency, said about three-fourths of an inch of rain had fallen in the burn area north of Ventura by early afternoon. But because the ground was not already saturated with water, there was little threat of a landslide.

“Six to 8 inches would make me nervous,” Taylor said.

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A truckload of sand, a shovel and a pile of bags lay on the ground at the north end of Aliso Street in the fire area, ready for homeowners who needed to sandbag against rushing water. But as the hours passed and rainfall in the city remained below 2 inches, the supplies went unused.

The Oct. 25 fire, which authorities say was deliberately set in a canyon behind City Hall, burned more than 400 acres before a light rain helped firefighters douse the blaze.

“The fire came within 30 or 40 feet of my classroom,” said Bonnie Gordon, owner of the Montessori Children’s House at 559 N. Aliso St. “The classroom was evacuated for the fire.”

But the hillsides got a good soaking during a Pacific storm two weeks ago and were bright green with new vegetation.

Residents in the burn area plan to hold a meeting Thursday to discuss ways to prevent slides in the future, she said.

In the fire areas of Malibu, the rain triggered minor rock falls and flooding on the charred slopes overlooking the community, where an October wildfire burned more than 13,000 acres. Officials closed Malibu Canyon Road at 4 p.m. because of falling rocks.

In Ventura County, residents on East Stroube Street in El Rio called authorities because the water had backed up and was threatening homes. “Stroube and Balboa [Street]. It always floods when it rains. Pennies from heaven. I wish,” said 61-year-old William Hervey, who lives with his wife, Annette, in the 600 block of East Stroube Street.

“Stroube Street was raised, but they never put a drain in,” Hervey said. “Now all the water runs off the street into our houses.”

In the 2500 block of Balboa Street, 15-year-old Jisela Ramirez was drying off after a soggy walk home from El Rio High School, where she is a sophomore.

“I came home from school and the water came up to my knees,” Ramirez said. “You can’t drive in your car because you can’t see the street.”

El Rio has had its share of floods so far this season.

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On Nov. 21, the first Pacific storm of the season closed Central Avenue near Vineyard Avenue for about two hours, and closed Burson and Perry ways for about five hours. Residents complained that water backed up into their homes because of a blocked pipe, which should have emptied the water into the Santa Clara River.

Crews were to have started work on the problem Monday, but the storm delayed their plans.

Taylor was also concerned about the area north of Fillmore that burned in April. The fire scorched about 10,500 acres near Grand Avenue.

“In that area, there’s been .94 inches of rain, and we’re expecting at least a couple more hours of rain,” Taylor said Monday afternoon. “There are 10 watersheds that were burned and all are full of landslide potential.”

In the downpour, search and rescue crews hunted for John Allen, a 52-year-old Santa Barbara resident who had not returned after a Sunday hike in the Old Man Mountain area of Los Padres National Forest.

Allen’s car was found in Matilija Canyon, and a command post was set up, said Deputy Tim Hagel. Allen was not prepared for an overnight trip, Hagel said, and bad weather may have hampered his return.

At the recently reopened Thousand Oaks Library, Monday’s rain was the “ultimate test” of the building, said deputy director Stephen R. Brogden. The facility has undergone $4.5 million in renovations after two years of troubles that included earthquake damage, a leaking roof and mold spores.

An anxious Brogden said, “The cynical part of me has to say that, yes, I was a little bit concerned” about leaks.

“But overall, we’re very pleased with how the building is performing.”

In years past, the library was known for its sieve-like response to rain.

“We used to use turkey pans to catch all the drips,” he said. “There used to be rivers over the circulation desk. It was a mess.”

While most of the building was bone dry during the soggy weather, four coffee cans and a plastic bucket were tucked near the windows in the videocassette section.

The rain and cool temperature did not keep 25-year-old Rosa Cruz from tending the J & E Produce stand on Rice Road, south of 5th Street, in Oxnard.

“I was here at 8 a.m. and will be here till about 5,” said Cruz, who managed to stay dry despite leaks in the roof of the wooden stand.

It was the kind of drizzly day that made sport-utility vehicle drivers just a little bit smug.

Alighting her shiny red Jeep Cherokee Laredo at the nearly vacant Westlake Plaza shopping center, Thousand Oaks resident Nancy Rote was undaunted by the storm.

“Because you’re high up, you can see better in that car,” Rote said. “I definitely feel safer in it. I’d like it up a little higher, even.”

The Amtrak station on Harbor Boulevard in Ventura was the perfect place to get out of the rain for 54-year-old Jim Clark. A former sheet metal worker who now lives wherever he can find a dry plot of land, Clark had come to the open-air depot for the obvious reason: “I’m keeping dry,” he said.

Night would eventually fall, and Clark said he would likely make his way to Oxnard, where the National Guard Armory would provide a warm, dry place to sleep.

Correspondent Kate Folmar contributed to this story.