Rain, Flooding in Santa Paula

By Peggy Kelly Santa Paula TimesThe pounding storm that has caused death and destruction throughout California hit Santa Paula hard over the weekend, and as of midday Monday there was little relief in sight.A mobile home toppled into raging Santa Paula Creek Sunday evening, while four other homes remained threatened by the erosion of the creek banks. Four homes on Fuchsia Lane were under careful watch after heavy flooding, and one home was damaged early Monday when Adams Barranca surged towards the Santa Clara River; the barranca hit the clogged tunnel near Faulkner Road, backing water up over Highway 126.As of noon Monday, all on and off ramps to Highway 126 were closed, a home on Harvey Drive was under watch after flooding from a steep hillside, and two homes were reportedly lost to Santa Paula Creek in the far reaches of Highway 150 near Thomas Aquinas College.The city opened its Emergency Operations Center at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday during the heavy wave of rain that reached a rate of 6 inches per hour at peak rainfall times. Santa Paula has now received about 26 inches of rain so far this season – which began on October 1 - well above the entire season norm of approximately 18 inches. The three-day rain total in the city was over 11 inches as of Monday noon.Santa Paula Fire Chief/Emergency Operations Director Paul Skeels said on Sunday that the single-wide mobile home located at 3672 Ojai Road toppled into the Santa Paula Creek when the ground beneath it collapsed around 5 p.m. The mobile home was located on property across Highway 150 from April Lane, and “Nobody was hurt or lost…the mobile home was located at the back of the property. It was a residence with utilities attached to it,” that was occupied by Enrique Perez. There was also a “huge tree undermined up there, but no other structures threatened at this time,” although there were numerous reports of mudslides.Residents of Santa Paula West Mobile Home Park were voluntarily evacuated early Monday when the water caused by the backup of Adams Barranca spilled into the park area. One home on View Drive sustained a major slide when the retaining wall below the patio collapsed on Sunday. City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said that police and fire personnel monitored the flood levels of the Santa Clara River and the Santa Paula Creek throughout Sunday night and that there were voluntary evacuations of homes on Fuchsia and Dana drives.“When it comes to the city as a whole, we’re in pretty good shape,” Police Chief Bob Gonzales said Monday morning at the EOC. Homes on Fuchsia Lane are “holding their own, but it looks pretty good; the concern for us is that there is quite a bit of debris in the channel. We’re monitoring Harvey Drive – it’s below the north side of Hospital Hill and we’ve had problems there before - and Santa Paula Creek. To date we’ve gotten through pretty good without any serious, serious damages.”Calls for SPFD Emergency Medical Services were up, many due to storm-related stress, he added. “We had some slides on Dana Drive, but no one was injured and no one was evacuated.”A tornado watch was implemented after a water spout was spotted heading toward the Santa Clara River Valley at around 7 a.m. Although there was a period of darkened skies, heavy rain and high winds believed caused by the tornado, the funnel passed over the city. “There was a huge amount of waterfall and wind during the tornado warning time, a deluge of water, but it keep on going,” noted Chief Gonzales.