New Deluge Predicted as Region Mops Up After Weekend Storm

With another Pacific storm threatening to dump up to 3 inches of rain in Southern California, residents spent Monday assessing damage from the weekend downpour and bracing themselves for more flooded streets, businesses and homes in the next few days.

Forecasters warn that the new storm, expected to hit late tonight and last through Wednesday, could produce flash flood conditions in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Irvine and Santa Ana, with up to an inch on the coast and 2 inches inland.

Los Angeles County could get up to 3 inches, coastal and inland, and Riverside and San Bernardino counties could get up to 2 inches, said Steven Vanderburg, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, which is tracking a front moving in from Alaska.

The weekend storm produced about half an inch of rain across Southern California, triggering scattered flooding, traffic accidents and power failures. Particularly hard-hit were low-lying coastal cities, where storm drains were quickly overwhelmed.

In Los Angeles County, warning signs advising beachgoers against swimming were posted in several areas, including Santa Monica. Ocean water along many stretches of coast took on a brown hue because of runoff.

Workers from Heal the Bay surveyed shorelines and watersheds, finding creeks and storm drain outfalls full of debris, including food wrappers, plastic water bottles and foam containers.

“It hasn’t rained significantly since April, and so all of the city of L.A. has had trash accumulating on streets and in gutters for six months,” said Shelley Luce, Heal the Bay’s director of science and policy.

In hard-hit Seal Beach on Monday, city employees picked up soggy carpeting and garbage in alleys because the debris could further clog catch basins, storm drains and pumps if more rain falls, said City Manager John Bahorski.

On Sunday morning, city officials learned that pumpkins and garbage cans were streaming down the streets. They scheduled extra trash pickups for Monday and today.

“All we need is carpeting floating down the street,” Bahorski said.

The worst flooding in Seal Beach was between Pacific Coast Highway, the ocean, 1st Street and Seal Beach Boulevard. Several people who live near Seal Beach Boulevard said their apartments were unlivable.

“I’m basically homeless right now,” said Dave Reedy, a 35-year-old air-conditioning installer with a two-bedroom unit who had stepped out of bed early Sunday into a pool of water.

Herb Nakasone, Orange County’s public works director, said the county pump station on Seal Beach Boulevard, which sends water into Alamitos Bay, functioned properly but could not handle the volume of water.

“The storm drains and the pump station were not capable of pumping the water out from the area fast enough,” he said.

In Anaheim, at Las Brisas Estates apartment complex, about 25 cars remained submerged in an underground garage. Tenants said they were renting cars and catching rides with friends.

David Medina, 61, who has lived for 10 years in the complex on Western Avenue near Ball Road, said his family lost a 2004 Ford truck and a 1987 Nissan.

One of Medina’s neighbors, Haroldo Soares, said he lost three cars and about $5,000 worth of painting supplies.

“It’s a real hit,” he said.

There were no shoreline closures in Orange County because of storm water runoff, but the county Health Care Agency issued an advisory Monday, warning swimmers to stay out of ocean waters for at least 72 hours after a significant rainfall.

Although the results of Monday’s water quality testing won’t be available until today, the advisory applies to the entire Orange County coast, said Monica Mazur, a county environmental health specialist.

“With a storm like this, we know the tests are going to be bad,” Mazur said. “It’s as big a first storm as I remember.”

Inland Empire authorities urged residents to remain prepared and cautious if they lived or drove near areas prone to flash floods or mudslides.

Sixteen people died Christmas Day when heavy debris flows struck a church campground above San Bernardino and a KOA campground in Devore.

Renee Cameron, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said the St. Sophia campsite off Highway 18, where 14 adults and children died, remains closed to all visitors “due to the flood control and erosion issues of last year.”

Cameron said snow was expected this week at the 7,000-foot level and authorities planned to closely monitor the county’s flood-troubled areas of Big Bear, Forest Falls, Lytle Creek and Devore.

“There will be extra patrols, some door to door, to ensure sandbags are in place and to inform residents [of flooding], should that be necessary,” Cameron said.

In Riverside County, residents in the newly burned areas near El Cerrito and Lake Skinner, and east of Temecula, should inspect their vulnerability to mudslides, Riverside County Fire Capt. Rick Vogt said. Flash flooding in the county’s desert areas also remains a concern, “wherever the rain falls heaviest,” Vogt said.

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Times staff writers Lance Pugmire and Dan Weikel contributed to this report.