El Nino Comes Storming Into Spring

A slow-moving storm accompanied by heavy winds dumped more than 2 inches of rain on parts of Orange County on Wednesday, drenching hundreds of homeless people shut out of armories and worrying South County residents about the unstable land beneath their homes.

The storm was expected to move out of Orange County today, with skies clearing by Friday, but not for long. Another storm is predicted for Saturday morning, said John Sherwin, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“This next storm system should be quicker-moving than the one Orange County just experienced,” Sherwin said. “But it looks like it’s going to drop about the same amount of rain.”

Because of flooding, Caltrans on Wednesday temporarily closed Laguna Canyon Road from Interstate 5 to El Toro Road, and shut down Pacific Coast Highway between Golden West Street and Warner Avenue in Huntington Beach.

The county’s National Guard armories in Santa Ana and Fullerton traditionally offer the homeless a warm, dry place to stay during the winter, and close their doors to the homeless in March. Efforts to keep the shelters open longer this season failed, leaving other county facilities filled and people such as Daniel Trupiano scrambling for cover.

Trupiano, 47, was among more than a dozen men turned away at the Salvation Army in Santa Ana on Wednesday. Soaked and shivering after the night and day in the driving rain, Trupiano took a wool blanket from the shelter and set out to find a place to spend the night.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Trupiano said. “I’ll probably end up getting a ticket for sleeping outside.”

Advocates for the homeless say this winter has been particularly difficult. Pounding El Nino rains have kept shelters jammed with homeless people. Options are few.

“If someone called me and told me they desperately needed a place to stay, I would not know where to tell them to go,” said Lee Podolak, director of Homeward Bound, which provides services for the needy in Orange County.

At Crown Cove, an imperiled Laguna Niguel condominium complex where homes have been devastated by landslides, residents and city officials spent an anxious day watching the rain and hoping sandbags would hold.

“We’re getting reports on an hour-by-hour basis,” said Thomas E. Miller, attorney for homeowners there. “The sandbags seem to be holding, and the preparations are in place.”

More than half the dwellings at the 41-unit complex along Crown Valley Parkway have been evacuated because of a collapsing hill behind them.

Large homes perched precariously above the condos had not fallen as of Wednesday evening.

Laguna Beach had 2.01 inches of rainfall Wednesday, the highest total in the county.

For commuters, Wednesday was a nightmare. On Orange County freeways alone, 163 accidents occurred from 6 to 9 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Bruce Mauldin said. The CHP stopped counting after that.

There were reports of scattered flooding. In San Clemente, firefighters vacuumed three inches of water from the floor of Beverly Cantrell’s home after a storm drain backed up in the 200 block of Avenida Cabrillo.

“We had placed a row of sandbags three feet tall to protect our driveway, and the water just came right over the top,” Cantrell said.

Ann Quilter, whose Laguna Canyon home was damaged in a Feb. 23 storm, said Wednesday’s storm left her feeling nervous.

“So far, so good,” Quilter said. “The water and the silt and the mud is coming down the hill at a consistent rate but we’re basically OK.”

Winds driving 15 to 25 miles an hour brought down six trees in Rossmoor, and blew tree limbs into power lines, causing temporary outages for at least 1,000 Southern California Edison customers.

Contributing to this report was Times staff writer Bob Ourlian.

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Another Shower

Rainfall totals for the 24 hours ending 4 p.m. Wednesday, in inches:

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Anaheim 1.32 Dana Point 1.55 Laguna Beach 2.01 Lake Forest 0.45 Newport Beach 1.08 San Juan Capistrano 1.84 Santa Ana 1.65

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Santa Ana Totals

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Season to date 27.11 Normal to date 10.84 Last season to date 14.91

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Source: WeatherData Inc.