Reprieve May End as New Storms Approach

Ventura County residents continued to enjoy a reprieve from harsh winter weather Wednesday, but forecasters warned that another string of storms could arrive starting today.

The National Weather Service forecasts a 40% chance of showers tonight, with rainfall lasting until early Friday. Although the incoming storms are expected to be less severe than those that battered the county in recent days, another deluge could follow.

After more showers Saturday, forecasters expect heavy rainfall Sunday afternoon and winds up to 35 mph.

Officials across the county are on alert for another stretch of storms. They continued talks with state officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help pay for $36 million in countywide damage.

New damage reports trickled in Wednesday. Water districts and other agencies reported an additional $100,000 in equipment loss and repair costs, said Dale Carnathan, program manager for the sheriff’s emergency services offices.

He said officials will be looking at the weather Saturday morning, adding that about 60 rescue workers, search team members and firefighters are on full-time storm alert.

In Thousand Oaks, effluent from a sewer pipe break continued spilling into the Arroyo Conejo. By this morning, about 54 million gallons of untreated sewage will have flowed to the Pacific Ocean.

Late Tuesday, workers plugged another sewer main break near Ojai. The trunk line from Ojai to Casitas Springs near California 150 broke Sunday night after wet ground underneath eroded. About 1.2 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Ventura River. Signs warning residents away from the river and beaches will remain up through Friday.

“We’re going to have to wait for the river to go down some more, but it might be two weeks before we can get a look at the pipe,” said David Burkhart, general manager of the Ojai Valley Sanitation District.

In Los Padres National Forest, a 20-mile stretch of California 33 is closed because of a landslide that spilled 600,000 cubic yards of dirt--enough to fill 1,080 Olympic-size swimming pools. Officials do not know when the spill will be cleaned up and said the hillside near Tule Creek remains unstable. Bad weather has also closed several other trails and roads in the forest.

Workers moved ahead with inspections at Ventura and Hueneme piers.

In Ventura, where the pier remains closed, divers Wednesday assessed underwater damage. Their findings could add to the $50,000 to $90,000 in damage caused by pounding surf. So far this winter, the pier has lost six to eight pilings and eight steel braces. Repairs are expected to begin next week.

“It took a massive hit the Friday before last,” said Ron Calkins, Ventura’s public works director. “I’m anxious to get the steel braces back in place before the next onslaught.”

Except for the last 100 feet, Hueneme Pier has been reopened. But in the wake of last week’s pounding tide, which caused the pier’s west wing to collapse, officials might scrap plans to restore the structure to its original T-shape.

Instead, the city may focus on fixing what is left, said Tina Esparza, the city’s housing and community development director. Repairs to the last 100 feet are estimated at $250,000.

Meanwhile, several families washed out of an aging Port Hueneme apartment complex remain at a Red Cross emergency shelter at Hueneme High School. Three families that came to the city for help are to be placed permanently in public housing, Esparza said.

Oxnard officials said the city has sustained $1.1 million in property damage. Most of the damage came at Channel Islands Boulevard, where a sea wall collapsed onto the road. A stretch of the road from Victoria Avenue to Peninsula Road is expected to be closed for three or four months.

Metrolink commuter rail service from Camarillo and Oxnard is expected to resume Monday.