Emergency-Response Center Is in the Eye of Every Storm

In an industrial complex between Angel Stadium and the Arrowhead Pond, Orange County’s storm emergency-response center sprang into action with the recent torrential rains.

The public works crews it sends into the field were put to the test, as at least 12 homes were threatened by landslides or left uninhabitable and a 16-year-old Silverado Canyon girl was killed by a falling boulder.

From their cramped room in Anaheim, John Harris, a 19-year county veteran, and eight others directed workers from the mundane to the urgent -- street flooding, mudslides in Laguna Beach and weakened flood control channels.

The field crews, which comprise equipment operators, inspectors and inmates when they are needed for labor, have had little rest or sleep in the last week. Many have worked 12- to 18-hour shifts.

The operations center learns of storm problems from police, firefighters and residents. With each mudslide, flooded road or overflowing flood channel, Harris dispatches an inspector to assess the problem. The bosses at the command center evaluate the situation and send workers, materials and equipment to the scene.

“Some of the best people I have are in that room,” said Bill Tidwell, public works operations manager, pointing to the storm center. “They and the people out in the field doing the repairs deserve a lot of credit.”

On Wednesday, a break between storms provided little rest for Harris’ crew. As the rain tapered off, field crews cleaned debris from roads, unclogged drains, made repairs and prepared for the next storm, which might arrive Monday.

Orange County, like Los Angeles County, is poised to have its wettest season ever. Since the advent of record keeping in 1909, it has rained more only twice at the county’s recording spot in Santa Ana -- in 1997-98, when 30.59 inches of rain fell during the 12-month season that starts July 1, and in 1977-78, with 28.52 inches, according to the county’s Watershed & Coastal Resources Division. As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, this season’s total was 27.78.

With the past week’s storm arriving on the Presidents Day weekend, only skeleton crews were on duty. Because of the unrelenting rain, virtually all crews were assigned jobs.

“We had the basic core [of people] used up, then the backup people were used, and we were into the extreme backup people,” said Harris, who was in Laughlin, Nev., with his family until Monday.

In his absence, the command center was operated by Cynthia Sandkamp.

Sandkamp sent crews to shore up an embankment at an Irvine flood control basin and to oversee the removal of rocks and other debris in Silverado Canyon, where 16-year-old Caitlin Oto was killed by a boulder.

Tidwell selects only those with field experience to work the center, like Sandkamp, a 25-year public works veteran, and Harris. “They know what it takes to get a job done and can handle the stress,” Tidwell said.

Harris’ first stint in charge of the storm center was during the 1997-98 El Nino season, which devastated the county with mudslides, flooding and coastal erosion.

The county always has 160 public works employees either in the field or on standby to react to floods, mudslides, windstorms, fires or earthquakes.

The storm center’s decor is spartan: Phones and radios rest on a large table, and monitors depict the latest radar storm photographs and rainfall data. White boards serve as chalkboards to log trouble spots.

Harris’ crew Tuesday included Andy Steitl, 61, who helped with dispatching; Ric Benites, who kept a running log of the dispatch calls; Tammy Bragg, who processed work orders; and Louie Arostique, who helped with phones.

Public works personnel use shorthand when referring to cities, streets and flood control channels. “We know the channels better than we do street names anyway,” Bragg said.

On Tuesday, when the radar monitor showed a thick weather band coming in over Orange County, the crew quickly shifted into high gear.

Steitl fielded a call from an inspector in Anaheim. “It’s Vinnie. He says he’s at the Raymond basin and has 10 washouts.”

“Who do we have right now?” Harris said, looking at the standby list. “Send Gloria over and have her pick up 200 sandbags.”

Soon the center had crews at a mudslide blocking lanes on Santiago Canyon Road, a sinkhole in Anaheim and an embankment failure at a basin in Irvine.

Though the hours are long and the work is sometimes dangerous, Harris’ crew said the job was worthwhile, especially when they receive a thank-you letter such as the one that hangs framed at the storm center.

The August 1983 letter was sent by homeowners of the Capistrano Beach Road Assn.

“Many of our homes would not have survived the disaster,” the letter states, thanking public works for the “magnificent rescue efforts.”