As Cleanup Continues, Help Offered to El Nino’s Victims

The sun shone brightly and the president offered hopeful words, but the cleaning up and digging out continued at a grinding pace here for mudslide victims and work crews in the canyons.

Disaster experts held a “family recovery meeting” to explore emotional reactions to the disaster on Saturday night, and federal Small Business Administration (SBA) officials were extending offers of low-interest loans to help get homeowners and renters as well as local auto repair shops, art galleries and other businesses back to work.

Meanwhile, much of Laguna Canyon Road remained closed at least until Monday as Caltrans workers continue scraping off mud and dirt and making repairs to the road surface while monitoring the stability of hillsides. A piece of the road opened up from the San Diego Freeway to El Toro Road.

Residents of the area victimized by floods, mud and landslides face a long recovery and greater uncertainty, with warnings that as many as 25 other dwellings may have been destabilized and made dangerous by the shifting earth.

And it will take more time before experts can determine the full extent of damage and personal loss, said Judy Iannaccone, public affairs director for the American Red Cross in Orange County, which is in need of contributions to provide more than $50,000 in immediate care in the form of food, shelter and clothing.

“This definitely is a large-scale disaster,” she said.

The family recovery meeting, a two-hour session, was for Orange County residents and featured six Red Cross mental health specialists. Others may be scheduled as they are needed, Iannaccone said.

The Red Cross also is operating a care and reception center at Laguna Beach City Hall, 515 Forest Ave., and a service center at the Wells Fargo Bank building at 24791 Alicia Parkway in Laguna Hills. The care center is considered a first stop, while the service center is designed for more intensive use.

The Red Cross is caring for more than 75 people, including 19 children, who were victims of the mudslides in Laguna Beach.

While the Red Cross provides for immediate needs, the SBA represents a source for low-interest loans for long-term rebuilding.

The SBA’s new office is at the Wells Fargo Bank branch at 260 Ocean Ave. to process emergency loan applications for renters, homeowners and non-agricultural businesses. Homeowners may apply for as much as $200,000 in loans to rebuild or replace houses that have been destroyed or damaged. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans of as much as $40,000 for personal property lost as a result of storms.

Owners of businesses may apply for as much as $1.5 million to pay for damaged or destroyed real estate, equipment and other assets, including inventory.

Loans are intended to restore victims to pre-storm condition and may cover only “uncompensated” losses, meaning those as a result of being uninsured or underinsured.

The SBA set a deadline of April 10 to apply for loans for property damage.

Also available are Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), which are for small businesses that suffer economic setbacks as a result of the storm, whether or not they were actually damaged. The deadline to apply for those loans is Nov. 9.

For more information, call the Red Cross at (714) 835-5381 or the SBA at (800) 488-5323.

Robert Ourlian can be reached at (714) 248-2150 or by e-mail at robert.ourlian@latimes.com