Rain, Wind Pound the County

Rain and wind clobbered Ventura County Friday as a weekend storm--intensified by this year’s much-ballyhooed El Nino condition--blew in from the north, causing minor flooding and fender benders around the county.

The storm also delivered a rude wake-up call to residents in areas vulnerable to mudslides or flooding. Many hustled out to find sandbags to protect their homes.

“We sold 4,000 this morning,” said Valena Moreno, a cashier at Home Depot in Oxnard. “Even the empty ones are gone.”

The rain started before sunrise and by 9 p.m. had dropped 4.4 inches in Upper Ojai, 2.6 inches in Thousand Oaks and 3.4 inches in Ventura.

And the worst is not over, forecasters warned.

The driving rain that drenched the county, creating small lakes at intersections and clogging storm drains, was expected to continue today, with possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. The storm is expected to leave by Sunday.

“Ventura County is in the area that will be receiving the heaviest rainfall” over the weekend, said Wes Etheredge, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Meteorologists predicted that between an inch and 4 inches of rain could fall between midnight and 6 a.m. today, with more rain expected this afternoon.

After 24 hours of rain, mudslides will become a real possibility today, Etheredge said.

The rain fell so hard and so fast Friday that by late afternoon Ventura County fire officials had declared a flood alert, sending out workers to survey flood-prone waterways around the county.

“It’s still early in the season. But with quite a lot of intense rainfall, we don’t want to wait to put this [flood plan] into action,” said Sandi Wells, public information officer for the county Fire Department.

As torrents of rain continued to fall, officials around the county kept a close watch on vulnerable areas such as La Conchita, El Rio, Piru, Fillmore and the Santa Clara River, areas traditionally prone to flooding and mudslides.

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In El Rio, residents scurried to pile walls of sandbags in their driveways to protect their homes from the rising water.

“This happens every year,” said Mariana Zendejes, who lives near Stroube and Cortez streets, where the flooding was worst. She rushed out Friday morning to buy sandbags, and filled them with sand herself. “I’ll put up another layer if it keeps raining,” she said.

Nearby Cortez Street was completely underwater by 2 p.m., and a wide river of dirty water cascaded south toward a large storm drain. County workers darted in and out of trucks putting up flood signs.

“There’s no damage yet, but the water is rising now,” county worker Mike Padilla said.

In Ventura, workers sloshed through mud, placing protective plastic over the steep hillside behind the San Buenaventura Mission to prevent sliding.

“Wet or dry, we’re nervous about the situation,” said Ventura planning and redevelopment manager Tom Figg, who sent a letter to mission officials several weeks ago, urging them shore up the hillside before the winter rains. “The more saturated it gets, the heavier it becomes, which makes it that much more of a concern.”

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In Simi Valley, public works employees in yellow rain gear spent the day pulling soggy leaves and branches out of rain-swollen storm drains.

Meanwhile, Simi Valley officials announced that residents hoping to guard their property against flooding can fill sandbags at two city-run stations, one near Galena Avenue and the other at 5th and Pacific streets.

“We’re prepared,” said Ron Coons, Simi Valley’s public works director. “There’s been a lot of hype about El Nino.”

City workers in neighboring Thousand Oaks worked to keep catch basins clear, too. But Don Nelson, the city’s public works chief, said there was no street flooding Friday.

“Over the weekend, we’ll keep our eye and ear on the situation,” Nelson said. “If we need more resources, we’ll call them in. It’s really early in the season, and you don’t really start having flooding problems until the ground is saturated.”

Rising water encircled a 20-unit office building in the 3600 block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard by 7 p.m. Friday, prompting county firefighters to deliver 500 sandbags. No interior damage was reported.

Officials kept an especially close watch on the tiny seaside community of La Conchita, which was swallowed by mud in the spring of 1995.

“Stuff is coming down the hill,” said Dale Carnathon, a Sheriff’s Department employee who is considered a La Conchita expert. “But the hill isn’t moving. It takes a while for the water to soak down to the slip point.”

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Residents themselves were unfazed--even fatalistic.

“As far as I know, the hillside did its thing already,” said Michael Anthony, who lives in a one-room cabin. “I know it can be dangerous here, but I think the mass of it has slid already.”

Officials also kept a careful watch Friday on Piru and Fillmore, where a fire scorched more than 24,800 acres this summer.

But Fire Department spokeswoman Wells said softer, earlier rains allowed a soft carpet of vegetation to take root, helping to hold the steep hillsides in place.

Meanwhile, on the rain-slick highways, there were more than 17 auto accidents between 6 a.m. and noon--three times the usual rate. At least another 18 were logged by 5 p.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Paul Thompson said. All were minor.

A stretch of California 126 from Fillmore to the Golden State Freeway was flooded for much of the day, though no lanes were closed. California 33 was closed for a time to allow workers to remove rocks that had fallen from a hillside near the summit of Pine Mountain.

Cities across the county have worked in recent weeks to clear homeless people from the Santa Clara and Ventura river bottoms to prevent a repeat of the winter problems of 1995.

That winter devastating floods ripped through camps along the Ventura River bottom, killing one man. Twelve others who had encampments in the river bottom had to be plucked by rescuers from the rising waters.

But Friday, many of them sought shelter.

“The homeless people usually disappear into nooks and crags around the county,” said Carol Roberg, associate director of the Ventura County Rescue Mission--the only year-round homeless shelter in Ventura County. “But today they are sticking close to the mission.”

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Ordinarily, the mission just serves meals. Friday’s storm prompted officials to open a building to about 50 homeless people so they could read, drink coffee and stay dry.

And Karol Schulkin, coordinator of the public social services agency homeless services program for the county, said she spent the afternoon gathering blankets and towels for homeless to spend the night in Camarillo, at a dormitory in the now-vacant Camarillo State Hospital.

“We’re counting on larger numbers this weekend,” she said. “We’ve got beds for 120.”

Also contributing to this report were Times correspondent Dawn Hobbs, staff writers Fred Alvarez and Chris Chi, and correspondents Scott Steepleton and Regina Hong.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. Friday . Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year. *--*

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last since to date 24 hours Oct. 1 Camarillo 1.85 4.56 2.61 Casitas Dam 2.83 6.40 4.05 Casitas 3.74 7.22 4.30 Rec. Center Fillmore N/A N/A 2.76 Matilija Dam 2.40 7.08 4.41 Moorpark 1.10 N/A 2.75 Ojai N/A N/A 3.57 Upper Ojai 3.66 8.38 3.87 Oxnard 1.54 5.17 2.45 Piru N/A N/A 2.97 Port Hueneme 1.89 3.87 2.52 Santa Paula 2.01 5.34 3.32 Simi Valley 1.42 4.39 2.52 Thousand Oaks 2.05 4.94 2.73 Ventura 2.60 5.45 2.76 Govt. Center

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