Camera to monitor O.C. flood conditions
The U.S. Geological Survey is installing a webcam to monitor Orange County’s Santiago Creek for flooding and debris flow and will soon install another in the Malibu Canyon area.
The camera locations were chosen because those areas are at high risk for flooding and mudslides associated with the recent fires, said agency spokesman Jim Nickels.
The webcam at Santiago Canyon Road and Modjeska Canyon Road, at the bridge where Santiago Canyon Road crosses Santiago Creek, will be in operation 24 hours a day. Once installed, the public will be able to watch what is happening by going to https://ca.water.usgs.gov and clicking on the “view webcams” button.
The cameras should help warn residents of flooding. They will be placed in discreet locations, as high as 10 feet off the ground.
The only other webcam in California is at the Truckee River, Nickels said. There will soon be six more, including the ones in Orange County and Malibu Canyon.
“Already there has been an evacuation because of high flood risk,” Nickels said. “This will just give us one more tool to monitor what is happening.”
On Nov. 30, Orange County fire officials asked Modjeska and Williams canyons residents to evacuate their homes because of the slick conditions on surrounding hillsides caused by that day’s rain.
Although staff will not regularly monitor the Orange County camera, “once the stream starts flowing, we will be watching it 24 hours a day,” Nickels said.
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