Heaviest Storm of Winter Drenches Southland

A punishing winter storm drenched Southern California on Monday as high winds damaged homes and strong, steady rain led to hundreds of traffic accidents, including one that claimed a newlywed’s life.

Cristina Ibarra, 20, of Chatsworth died of injuries suffered when her husband of two days, Fernando Montoya, 21, lost control of their vehicle as the couple traveled east on the Simi Valley Freeway in Pacoima about 3:20 p.m. “Another car hit a puddle and that is when he lost visibility,” CHP Officer Rosa Ray said of Montoya, who suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Another fatal accident occurred in La Mirada when a pickup truck went out of control on Beach Boulevard, hit a center divider and became airborne, crashing into two vehicles, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ed Chenal. The crash killed the 49-year-old female passenger of the first vehicle hit by the pickup and left three others critically injured.

In Anaheim Hills, high gusts damaged 25 homes and at least two cars. The winds of up to 40 mph uprooted trees and drove one large branch into the living room of a house on Manti Drive, said Bret Colson, Anaheim city spokesman.

Some residents compared the pounding to a tornado, but Colson said it was unclear whether the winds actually formed such a weather phenomenon. “We know that [there were] very strong winds, but we can’t say for sure that it was a funnel cloud,” Colson said.

To the south, Orange County fire officials evacuated about 20 residents of Villa San Juan Mobile Homes in San Juan Capistrano about 1 p.m. because of fears that an earthen berm lining an adjacent construction site might collapse.

“The mud came down my driveway just like a river and covered the street from one side to the other,” said Vivian Darwin, who has lived in the trailer park about 20 years.

“They’re evacuating us for fear that that wall behind us will give way,” she said. “The majority of people here are seniors, and there are a lot of single women here so it’s frightening.”

The rain is expected to end by this morning, yielding to mostly cloudy skies before a new storm moves through the area Wednesday. That weather front will be centered farther north than the latest storm. It is expected to produce showers that could last through Friday but will be less intense than the weekend storm.

Beyond the fatal collisions, the Presidents Day storm was blamed for a significant increase in the number of accidents for a holiday.

“We noticed a tremendous increase in calls,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

From midnight Saturday until 4 p.m. Monday there were 953 collisions on Los Angeles County freeways and highways, most of them caused by excessive speed, according to the California Highway Patrol. That compares with 780 collisions for the same time period during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, when the weather was dry.

“As soon as it starts raining, people are driving too fast,” said the CHP’s Ray. “People hydroplane and that’s when they lose control of their car.”

Heavy rains and snow caused countless traffic jams and road closures. Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu was shut for almost four hours during the afternoon, and authorities closed portions of California 18 near Crestline and California 2 near Big Pines.

Traffic near Big Bear was so snarled by accidents and bad weather that motorists were at a standstill for more than four hours.

The storm, the latest in a series of wet weather patterns this winter, was by far the strongest.

“It’s not the first storm of the season, but it is the first one to produce a significant amount of rainfall,” said meteorologist Amy Talmage of WeatherData Inc., which provides weather analysis to The Times.

The storm’s intensity was felt throughout the region. By 4 p.m. Monday, heavy rains were reported in Ventura County, which received 2.56 inches; Montebello, with 2.36 inches; and Torrance, where 1.55 inches fell. Monday’s totals brought many areas to more than 3 inches of rainfall from the two-day storm.

The storm brought 1.92 inches of rain to the Los Angeles Civic Center, 1.84 to Los Angeles International Airport, 2.22 to Glendale, 2.08 to Santa Monica and 2.31 inches to Van Nuys.

The storm produced 8 inches of snow at Big Bear. “That is just today,” said Talmage, who added that snow elevation levels were as low as 3,000 feet.

Fire Department spokesman Humphrey warned residents and motorists against taking chances on flooded streets or near flood control channels.

“Many people have been overestimating their luck and underestimating the water both in depth and speed. In many cases people are driving into flooded intersections and getting stuck,” said Humphrey, who added that Los Angeles firefighters rescued more than a dozen motorists Monday.

“We also like to remind people to stay away from flood control channels,” Humphrey said. “With these storms, the flood waters will continue to flow at deceptively dangerous levels for days to come and people should know that these catch basins are not playgrounds. They’re potentially lethal.”

Times staff writer writers Caitlin Liu and Soraya Nelson contributed to this story.