Storm Plants Itself Over Southland

The first El Nino-related storm of the season lumbered in from the Pacific on Friday, roiling surf, unleashing mudslides and raising the demand for sandbags across Southern California.

The storm, which is expected to last until Sunday morning, sent 8-foot waves roaring to the shore in Malibu. Winds across the region gusted to 50 mph. Scattered power outages affecting about 3,000 homes were reported throughout the Southland.

By late Friday, more than 3 inches had fallen in Santa Barbara and in portions of Ventura County. In Los Angeles County, more than 2 1/2 inches had drenched Woodland Hills. The brunt of the storm was expected to hit central Los Angeles and continue south to Orange County early today. The storm had been anticipated since midweek, and in most areas residents were prepared. In flood-prone areas, homeowners busily filled sandbags supplied by emergency agencies, and swift water rescue teams went on standby in Orange, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties.

Orange County officials distributed more than 3,000 sandbags and more will be available throughout the weekend at most of the county’s 61 fire stations.

In addition, various pieces of earth-moving equipment have been stationed throughout the canyon areas where problems will probably occur, county spokesman Bill Reiter said.

“We’ve done our work, and we’ve got the storm center open,” Reiter said. About 10 county employees were scheduled to work through Friday night to monitor the situation and answer any questions.

“If things deteriorate, more people will be called in,” he said. “If and when it’s needed, we will send operators out to what’s necessary.”

The county sanitation district, meanwhile, issued an advisory urging resident to conserve water through the weekend to reduce potential overflow in the county’s sewer system. And the County Health Care Agency urged people to stay away from the beaches, where surf is expected to reach 7 feet.

In the San Fernando Valley, crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked feverishly to finish clearing brush and debris from several flood control channels. At Gladstone’s restaurant in Malibu and at Santa Monica State Beach, bulldozers nudged boulders and sand into protective berms.

In Pasadena, officials announced that today’s mechanical testing of the Rose Parade floats, usually an outdoor event, would be moved indoors. Metrolink postponed until Dec. 19 the “Holiday Toy Express,” a special train that was to move across the region today collecting toys for needy children.

The Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese canceled Sunday’s 67th annual procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe and moved the Mass from East Los Angeles Community College Stadium to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

In Castaic, preparations were so intense that an inmate at the Peter Pitchess Detention Center used them as an opportunity to escape. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Angie Prewett said that David Slager, 23, serving time for spousal assault, was assigned to a team filling sandbags about 2 p.m. when he walked away from his job at the center’s South Facility.

Meteorologists said the storm, which hit the coast near Point Conception and moved south and east, could eventually drop up to four inches of rain on parts of the Los Angeles Basin. Flash flood watches were issued for Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

A mudslide on Friday forced the temporary closure of California 150 between Santa Paula and Ojai, and by late afternoon, authorities had closed off access to the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area in the San Fernando Valley as the level of the Los Angeles River at the Sepulveda Dam reached 12 feet.

Meanwhile, in the mountains, the storm was expected to bring between 2 and 5 inches of snow. Meteorologist Wes Etheredge of WeatherData Inc. predicted that the snow line would fall to about 5,500 feet.

Etheredge said the skies should clear up Sunday morning, with lingering showers and clouds throughout the day. Temperatures are expected to remain in the upper 50s and mid-60s through the region’s low-lying areas, and in the 30s and 40s in the mountains.

Although it was viewed by many meteorologists as the first true El Nino-related storm of the season, Friday’s weather looked to most Southern Californians like ordinary rain. Etheredge said the much-discussed meteorological phenomenon is too broad to be seen in the context of any single storm. Rather, he said, “it is seasonal and climatological, affecting things over a two- or three-month span.”

Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Henry Rodriguez advised residents to stay away from rivers, flood control channels, storm drains and the like. “One second a channel can be empty and [then], without warning, can become a raging river during a rainstorm.”

People who live in flood-prone areas should develop plans to escape to higher ground, he said.

Rodriguez also reminded residents that swift-moving shallow water can be just as dangerous as deeper, raging waters.

Times staff writers Shawn Hubler, David Haldane and Steve Carney and correspondent Claire Vitucci contributed to this story.