SOUTHLAND STORM HITS AREAS HARD WEATHER: ONE DEAD IN SYLMAR GIANT TREE COLLAPSES IN WOODLAND HILLS.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem and Susan Abram

Staff Writers

The third storm in a week hit the water-logged Southland on Sunday with ferocity, flooding roads, downing trees and prompting an unusual indoor rain delay for the Los Angeles Lakers when a puddle formed courtside.

In Sylmar, a man was found dead in a car in a wash. In Highland Park, two people were hospitalized after firefighters rescued them from the swollen Arroyo Seco.

Dozens of cars skidded across roadways as more than 3 inches of rain soaked the San Fernando Valley.

The latest storm pushed the season total well ahead of normal, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service.

"This week so far has been wetter than the whole season last year," Seto said.

Since last Monday, some 7 inches of rain have fallen on the San Fernando Valley, bringing the local total to about 13 inches, Seto said.

The forecast this week calls for some respite, starting today, he said. Showers are expected this morning but will taper off until Tuesday and Wednesday, when there's a 30 percent chance of more rain. On Thursday, the sun is expected to peek through with no more storms visible on the radar, Seto said.

At the nationally televised Lakers game Sunday, referees delayed the game for about 12 minutes after puddles formed on the basketball court from sopping wet work clothes left by roofers on a catwalk above Staples Center.

The unexpected timeout came near the end of the first quarter with the Cleveland Cavaliers leading the Lakers 19-18.

Residents of a Woodland Hills neighborhood heard a thud in the night and went outdoors to find a giant redwood had fallen across four cars.

"It didn't make a big noise when it fell, but we felt it fall. The windows shook," said Carmen Contreras, who owns the Hamlin Street house where the tree fell.

No one was hurt, but the base of the tree -- some 5 feet in diameter -- left a gaping hole in Contreras' yard.

The tree's branches crushed her car, her van, her brother's car and a friend's car, she said.

Neighbors Jose Hernandez, 18, and his cousin Lizette Loera, 12, said they heard a loud "thump" at about 11:30 Saturday night, followed by the piercing sound of car alarms.

Firefighters Sunday morning found a man believed to be about 45 inside a van in the Pacoima Wash near Gavina Avenue, Los Angeles city fire spokesman Ron Myers said.

The normally dry wash was flowing after heavy overnight rain.

The Malibu area took two hits. A rock slide shut down two-lane Schueren Road just east of Rambla Pacifico in the Canyon Fire burn area. Later Sunday, a single lane of Pacific Coast Highway west of Trancas Canyon slumped when a slope beneath the roadway gave way. The collapse broke a 5-inch water main.

Officials said the lane could be closed several months as the slope is repaired.

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Photo:

(1 -- 3) Rivers of water, above, rush through one of the golf courses at Griffith Park as heavy rains pound the Southland on Sunday. Below left, an L.A. Fire and Water Rescue team hoists a car out of the Arroyo Seco. Two people were in the car and suffered minor injuries after the car plunged from the 110 Freeway into the river. Below right, a coyote roams a golf course at Griffith Park, which was closed because of the heavy rains.

Photos by Gene Blevins