CITY LEADERS DECLARE STATE OF EMERGENCY MOVE WILL EASE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

As crews red-tagged homes and dealt with mudslides, blocked roads and sewage spills Wednesday, Los Angeles city officials declared a state of emergency so residents digging out from the storms can get financial assistance.

``I declared a (citywide) state of emergency,'' Mayor James Hahn said during a press conference, adding that he had asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to include the Los Angeles area in any state-aid considerations.

``This is a way for us to offer assistance to people so they can get low-interest loans to cover their damage that isn't covered by their insurance policies.''

Hahn predicted there will be more storm-related problems in the days ahead. He urged residents to call 311 if they have any questions.

Hahn said a sewage spill in the Eagle Rock-Pasadena area is ``under control.'' He said the effluent was being kept from getting into the storm-water system.

City officials are still working to determine on the storm's cost.

``We prepared as best as we could for this,'' Hahn said. ``We're lucky we didn't have the problems they did in Ventura County.''

Nevertheless, local problems persisted.

In Los Angeles, officials red-tagged four homes and asked residents to evacuate after a section of hillside in the 7800 block of Woodrow Wilson Drive showed signs of coming down.

Authorities also closed several county parks because the heavy rain has made hillsides prone to mudslides.

``Park rangers are patrolling the parks, but land erosion and mudslides can be extremely unpredictable and dangerous,'' said Walt Young, chief ranger of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

The closed parks include Franklin Canyon Park, San Vincente Mountain Park, Temescal Canyon Park, Red Rock Park, Wilson Canyon, parts of the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, Ed Davis Park at Towsley Canyon, Mentryville and Pico Canyon, Whitney Canyon Park and Michael D. Antonovich Regional Park at Joughin Ranch.

Los Angeles County closed a stretch of Malibu beach from the pier to Malibu Colony Road after a sewage line broke in Calabasas, spilling up to 1.5 million gallons per day of raw sewage into Las Virgenes Creek.

``We're doing our best to rectify the situation as quickly as possible,'' said David Lippman of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

In the Ventura County community of Piru, residents remained isolated with Highway 126 shut down from Fillmore to the Ventura County line because of mudslides.

In Moorpark, city officials were scheduled to declare a local state of emergency to gain state and federal funding to repair storm damage.

Potholes, downed trees, clearing roadways of mud flow and cleaning clogged drains constituted most needed local work, which officials said would take crews about two weeks to complete.

``If we had to do all repairs on our own it would put a strain on our budget,'' said Moorpark Mayor Pro Tem Clint Harper.

In Santa Clarita, residents of the the Polynesian Mobile Home Park on San Fernando Road were allowed to return to their flood-damaged residences for 10 minutes Wednesday to gather belongings.

Residents were evacuated Sunday when the 150-unit park was overrun by rushing water, mud and debris. Late Wednesday, the city of Santa Clarita issued a report from its inspectors that said 29 of the mobile homes were uninhabitable.

In the Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich viewed storm damage from a helicopter.

``The empathy you have for the victims who have lost their loved ones, their homes, they've lost their histories, all their documents, photos,'' Antonovich said. ``It's time we had some type of system in place here in the Antelope Valley.''