STORM SWAMPS COUNTY: DRIVERS STRANDED; TRAILER PARK UNDERWATER.Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer Ventura County took a beating Friday from another El Nino-driven storm, but flooding was even more intense in the waterlogged wa·ter·logged adj. 1. Nautical Heavy and sluggish in the water because of flooding, as in the hold: a waterlogged ship. 2. region, with creeks inundating neighborhoods and stranding residents in sometimes waist-high water. The storm front lingered over pockets for much of the morning, unleashing a torrential downpour that overwhelmed storm drains and roadways in Camarillo, Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . Rescue crews helped dozens of commuters from flooded roads. Several cars were stranded at Lewis Road and Barry Street shortly after the squall rolled over Camarillo. Residents of the Camarillo Springs mobile-home park waded to higher ground and spent much of the day waiting for the waters to recede re·cede 1 intr.v. re·ced·ed, re·ced·ing, re·cedes 1. To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede. 2. to return their debris-strewn homes. The water at another mobile-home tract in the 600 block of Laguna Road stalled firefighters trying to reach a unit that had caught fire when a propane tank exploded. Helicopter crews ultimately fought the blaze from above. ``I've lived here 23 years and never seen anything like it,'' said Janet Hibbs, secretary to the Camarillo city manager. Hibbs said it appeared the storm-drain system could not handle the sudden volume of water in the area around City Hall. ``We have a large storm drain here near City Hall, and it couldn't accommodate all the water,'' she said. ``I don't think it was plugged up. It was just too much water too fast.'' Parts of Camarillo City Hall had to be evacuated because water flowed into a number of entrances. ``This is the worst thing in the world - it came down so fast and furiously for an hour or two. At 9:30 I noticed that the fireplug was half visible. Now it is completely underwater,'' said Margaret Kavanagh, who lives on Mardigras Court in Camarillo. ``If it gets much deeper, it will come inside my house. I have never seen rain like this - never, ever seen anything at all resembling this,'' said Kavanagh, a 23-year resident of the home in the cul-de-sac. Gary Ryan Gary Ryan (born 12 June 1972) is a former Irish sprinter who specialised in the 200 metres. On retirement he worked for the Irish athletics association. Ryan won the bronze medal in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2004 World Indoor Championships, together with teammates Robert , meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Friday's storms are part of the two-month deluge expected this El Nino season. While the main band of precipitation moved through the region Friday, a series of rainstorms is expected to continue through the weekend. And the season could continue like this into March, Ryan said. While much of eastern Ventura County managed to keep its head above water during Tuesday's downpour, Friday's storm dealt a strong blow, especially to the region's inland farms. ``Everything's flowing real quick now, and about four acres of strawberries are completely flooded over,'' said Fred Cantu, field supervisor for Camarillo's 100-acre Poplar Poplar, city, England Poplar, former metropolitan borough, SE England. See Tower Hamlets. poplar, in botany poplar: see willow. Farms. ``This rain has set us back a good deal. We've lost all we had to pick this month. We'll be out for a good four to five weeks until the new fruits ripen rip·en tr. & intr.v. rip·ened, rip·en·ing, rip·ens To make or become ripe or riper; mature. See Synonyms at mature. rip .'' David Buettner, deputy agricultural commissioner, said this second downpour surely increased damage to the county's crops from the preliminary estimate of $5.5 million reported earlier this week. ``This storm will especially extend the problem we had with the strawberries substantially, and it will probably rain more this weekend,'' he said. ``These heavy downpours have a real impact on the berries. They just can't take that kind of pelting rain.'' Thousand Oaks public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. crews watched as rising water in the Arroyo Conejo washed away days of work on a severed sewer line Noun 1. sewer line - a main in a sewage system sewer main main - a principal pipe in a system that distributes water or gas or electricity or that collects sewage damaged in Tuesday's deluge. Work will not be able to resume until the flow in the creek subsides, probably after the weekend, officials said. Dozens of roads through the city were closed after the rains turned intersections into small lakes. The greatest damage was done on Moorpark Road, where a 20-inch sinkhole sinkhole or sink or doline Depression formed as underlying limestone bedrock is dissolved by groundwater. Sinkholes vary greatly in area and depth and may be very large. formed across traffic lanes. The main north-south thoroughfare THOROUGHFARE. A street or way so open that one can go through and get out of it without returning. It differs from a cul de sac, (q.v.) which is open only at one end. 2. Whether a street which is not a thoroughfare is a highway, seems not fully settled. is expected to remain closed between Avenida de las Flores Las Flores can refer to:
``We had a tremendous amount of local street flooding in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks,'' said Capt. Keith Parks, stationed at the county's Emergency Operations Center The Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level in an emergency situation, and ensuring at the Government Center in Ventura. ``The water came down so fast that the storm drains couldn't take it. The ground was completely saturated, (and) the water was racing for the storm drains and they backed up with debris and with just the volume of water.'' The EOC's major focus has been to ensure that people are away from swift-moving waterways and that they are not trapped in their cars. About 2 p.m., the county Fire Department dispatched a swift-water rescue team to the channel between Boardwalk and Hodencamp in Thousand Oaks after receiving a report of two people in the water. No one was spotted, and after a helicopter crew swept the area, the search was called off at 5:30 p.m. Also about 2 p.m., deputies arrested Brian Thorkildsen and Mike Fernandez, both 22, of Thousand Oaks after they were discovered rafting in the Sidlee Wash. -- Daily News Staff Writer Eric Leach contributed to this story. WIDESPREAD DAMAGE Ventura County was hammered Friday by an El Nino storm that hovered over the region, dumping up to 2 inches of rain in just one hour and causing widespread damage. A 20-foot sinkhole opened on Moorpark Road, south of Avenida de las Flores in Thousand Oaks. Moorpark Road will be closed in the area through the weekend. Widespread flooding hit Camarillo, including City Hall, the Camarillo Convalescent con·va·les·cent adj. Relating to convalescence. n. A person who is recovering from an illness, an injury, or a surgical operation. convalescent 1. pertaining to or characterized by convalescence. 2. Home, several mobile home parks and houses on Mardigras Court. Floodwaters surrounded a mobile home in a rural area off Laguna Road in Oxnard and triggered a propane tank explosion and fire that had to be extinguished ex·tin·guish tr.v. ex·tin·guished, ex·tin·guish·ing, ex·tin·guish·es 1. To put out (a fire, for example); quench. 2. To put an end to (hopes, for example); destroy. See Synonyms at abolish. 3. by a swift-water rescue team. A sewer line that had ruptured during Tuesday's deluge was damaged again as repairs were washed away by Friday's storm. Thirty miles of beach from Oxnard to the Los Angeles-Ventura county line remained closed because of roughly 16 million gallons of raw sewage pouring into the sea. The Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. and Highway 126 in Ventura County were closed at times by rising floodwaters. Highway 33 near Ojai remains closed due to a major landslide earlier this week. The area's agriculture industry, which sustained $5.5 million in damage during Tuesday's storm, saw loss estimates skyrocket as rain flooded strawberry and celery fields. CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color--Ran in Conejo Edition only) Residents on Mardigras Court in Camarillo, left, start mop-up operations after several homes were flooded by Friday's storm. David R. Crane/Daily News (2--Color) Above, a road crew tries to clear a clogged storm drain. Evan Yee/Daily News (3) Maria Tirado of Camarillo begins cleaning up the mess left by floodwaters that knocked over the refrigerator in the garage of her home at Ponderosa Drive and Rosewood rosewood, popular name for the ornamental wood of several species of tropical trees, especially for the heartwood of certain leguminous trees of the genus Dalbergia of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Brazilian rosewood, or jacaranda (D. Avenue. Evan Yee/Daily News (4--Color--Ran in Simi Edition only) Leonardo Lopez wades through rainwater to retrieve another driver's minivan in Camarillo. Evan Yee/Daily News BOX: (Ran in Conejo Edition only) WIDESPREAD DAMAGE (see text) |
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