Heavy Rains, Gusty Winds Invade

Thunderstorms from the north brought heavy rains and gusty winds Wednesday, knocking out power, causing minor floods and snarling traffic across Ventura County on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

By midmorning, storms traveling down from the Gulf of Alaska had dumped more than half an inch of rain across the county in the biggest storm this year.

And by late afternoon, the rains returned in time for the traditional holiday traffic surge as cars began to back up at the bottleneck heading north at Vineyard Avenue in Oxnard.

“It was horrendous; the visibility was very poor . . .,” said motorist Athena Beldecos, who was traveling from Los Angeles to Ventura for the holiday weekend. “The weather was so temperamental that you couldn’t predict the conditions from mile to mile.”

Meteorologists predicted that a second round of storms would taper off by early today, leaving the air clear, cool and breezy for Thanksgiving.

The clearer, cooler weather should last through Sunday, when more rain is expected, according to John Sherwin, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which supplies weather information to The Times.

Wednesday’s squalls contributed to a spate of accidents around the county.

In the morning, a ladder crashed through the rear of a school bus pulled over on Santa Rosa Road, injuring a 16-year-old student. The accident was caused when a ladder atop a passing vehicle shifted and swung into the rear of the bus, California Highway Patrol officials said.

On the county’s freeways, dozens of motorists careened across rain-slick pavement, bumping into stationary objects and each other. The CHP received 80 service calls between 6 and 9:30 a.m., according to CHP Officer Dave Cockrill.

Meanwhile, strong winds and driving rain left 65 customers without power in Newbury Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills, said Steve Hanson, Southern California Edison spokesman.

The Ventura County Fire Department reported minor residential flooding in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley after the fast, heavy rainfall clogged a number of storm drains early Wednesday.

“It was in the streets and intersections where the storm drains were clear prior to the storm, but then the leaves came rushing in,” said Audrey Bee, Thousand Oaks’ municipal service center manager.

The rain caused more than $50,000 in damage and closed the new Roger Dunn Golf Shop on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, owner Bob Roades said. The problem was a leaky roof and faulty drainage system, he said.

In addition to damaged merchandise, Roades said he is out at least $30,000 that he spent on advertising in preparation for the busy holiday weekend. He said he now hopes to open Saturday.

“I spent all this money getting the store ready and what will customers [see]?” Roades said. “A sign that says, ‘Gone Fishing.’ ”

Meanwhile, Steve Poge, manager of the Home Depot in Newbury Park, said residents have been preparing for El Nino for months but that business picked up Wednesday as the storm pushed through.

“We’ve had publicity on El Nino . . . but when the rain picks up, this stuff goes like crazy,” said Poge, an 11-year employee at the store. “I think the first 20 people today came in for rain suits, tarps and sandbags.”

In the past two months, Poge estimates that his store has sold 3,000 sandbags in anticipation of El Nino. Other hot-selling items include downspouts, irrigation and drainage pipes, and plastic tarps, he said.

Large, cumulus clouds raced across the sky Wednesday afternoon, casting giant shadows over the gradually greening hills. A double rainbow arched over Ventura in the late afternoon.

But WeatherData’s Sherwin predicted that heavy showers would continue through Wednesday evening, with rain tapering off early this morning.

Sherwin said the storms that bring rain at lower altitudes will probably blanket the mountains with snow--dumping up to a foot on Mt. Pinos and up to 8 inches as low as 4,500 feet in the Topatopas and the coastal mountains behind Ojai.

He added that with thunderstorms of this sort--which are fairly unusual in Southern California--there is even the possibility of small tornadoes.

“A lot of time in this situation, we see small, short-lived tornadoes,” Sherwin said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see one--tornadoes are more common than people realize.”

Wednesday evening, large waves slammed against Ventura Pier, which is undergoing repairs from damage it sustained during a 1995 storm.

But City Engineer Rick Raives said that workers have replaced all 31 pilings that had been knocked out or damaged, and that work on new crisscross bracing to reinforce the pilings is nearly complete.

“We are certainly better off now than we started,” he said.

At the Ventura County Rescue Mission in Oxnard, the rain brought hordes of people seeking food and shelter.

“As soon as the weather starts to turn, we get more and more people,” said Dave Pizano, volunteer coordinator at the mission, his voice rising above the din of clanking plates, silverware and hungry people.

Typically, the mission has about 120 people for a meal, he said. But Wednesday, close to 200 crowded into the shelter for lunch. He expected similar numbers today.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 24-hour period ending at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

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Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.47 1.69 2.02 Casitas Dam 0.98 2.78 3.29 Casitas Rec. Center 1.14 2.73 3.29 Fillmore N/A N/A N/A Matilija Dam 1.34 3.62 3.36 Moorpark 0.63 1.85 2.14 Ojai 0.79 2.08 2.72 Upper Ojai 1.61 3.34 2.96 Oxnard 0.71 2.35 1.85 Piru 0.51 N/A 2.29 Port Hueneme 0.40 1.54 1.93 Santa Paula 1.14 2.39 2.56 Simi Valley 1.02 2.15 1.94 Thousand Oaks 1.10 2.07 2.11 Ventura Govt. Center 0.79 1.94 2.10

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