Floods Orange County

Robert Schrowe never saw his wife's final heroic act--saving the life of a pregnant woman just before being crushed to death beneath tons of mud and debris that plunged through the Silverado Canyon Fire Station on that February morning in 1969. A tree trunk had torn through the rear wall, opening it to the cascading mud. In the frenzy, the couple became separated. "We were all clamoring about (afterward), trying to make sure everyone was OK," Schrowe recalled recently.

The first major storm of the season dumped up to 3 1/2 inches of rain on Southern California on Friday morning, flooding homes, streets and highways and collapsing part of the roof at the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park. Police said there were twice as many traffic accidents as usual, and slick pavement slowed commuter routes to a crawl.

It's been 14 years since a destructive El Nino storm dumped three inches of rain in three hours over Orange County, but Corrine Welch can't forget how the flood control channel near her home suddenly overflowed its banks and turned her neighborhood into a marshland. The infamous March 1, 1983, storm caused $48.5 million in damage, flooded 1,000 homes and displaced thousands of people.

Westminster filed an $8-million lawsuit Friday against two insurance companies that refused to pay for demolishing and replacing a water tank that ruptured last fall, injuring six people and displacing more than 30 families. The breach-of-contract suit filed in Orange County Superior Court cites Lexington Insurance Co. of Boston and Commonwealth Insurance Co. of Vancouver, B.C., for refusing to cover the city's costs.

Five million gallons of water burst through an aging storage tank and slammed into a Westminster neighborhood early Monday, tossing cars and flattening garages in a disaster that former city officials said could have been avoided. Six people were injured and at least 30 left temporarily homeless after the tidal wave gushed from a 22-foot-high hole in the above-ground reservoir and rushed through a nearby fire station and the Hefley Square Town Homes. "I thought we were going to die," said Capt.

Workers will bulldoze 51 homes as part of a $23-million project to rebuild a slope ripped apart by a massive landslide a year ago today, lawyers for one of the homeowners associations said. Ten houses at the top of the slope along Via Estoril, most of them already destroyed, will not be rebuilt when reconstruction of the hillside is finished in about a year, said attorney Andrew Kurz of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, who represents the Niguel Summit Community Assn.

The driving conditions were horrid--perfect for trying out William Harris' new four-wheel-drive truck. But what began as a test spin on muddy roads turned into a nightmarish encounter with a raging, rain-swollen creek that claimed the life of an 11-year-old Mission Viejo boy who had come along for the ride. Cary Dean Burlew, a fifth-grader at Fred Newhart Elementary School, fell into the churning current and drowned while trying to cross Trabuco Creek tethered to a rope.

A new storm slammed into the Southland with a vengeance on Saturday, causing one fatality in Orange County, dangerously swelling rivers and reservoirs, flooding roadways and triggering mudslides, including three in Tijuana that killed eight people.

Damage and expenses from this week's rupture of a Westminster water storage tank that ravaged a nearby neighborhood could run $20 million to $25 million, city and Orange County officials said Thursday. City officials estimated total damage from the 5 million gallons of water that gushed out on Hefley Square Town Homes early Monday at $20 million, and they said they have enough insurance to cover that amount.

Laguna Canyon Road is expected to reopen for northbound commuters this morning, barring new flooding from the latest storm. A five-mile stretch of Laguna Canyon Road, between the San Diego Freeway and El Toro Road, was opened from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol reported. And provided that it does not rain this morning, one lane of Laguna Canyon Road will be opened to northbound commuters between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. the CHP and Laguna Beach Police said.

Workers will bulldoze 51 homes as part of a $23-million project to rebuild a slope ripped apart by a massive landslide a year ago today, lawyers for one of the homeowners associations said. Ten houses at the top of the slope along Via Estoril, most of them already destroyed, will not be rebuilt when reconstruction of the hillside is finished in about a year, said attorney Andrew Kurz of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, who represents the Niguel Summit Community Assn.

After a year of hardship and loss from the ferocious flooding and landslides of an El Nino winter, some Orange County residents and cities are digging in to fight long-lingering battles over who can or should pay for the damage and suffering. In Laguna Beach, the relatives of a man killed by a blast of mud moments after he helped rescue several others filed a lawsuit this week, blaming the city for his death.

Workers are continuing to pump water out of the city library's auditorium, damaged by last year's El Nino storms. The water that seeped into the library auditorium, on La Palma Avenue, damaged the stage area, carpets and walls. Workers installed French drains to allow water to seep through the sides of the pipes toward a pump. The crews will continue about $90,000 worth of repairs to the structure and furniture at least until September, said library staff member Doug Mason.

No matter how well defending champion Long Beach Poly plays in tonight's Southern Section Division I title game at Edison Field, there is nothing the Jackrabbits can do to discourage Mater Dei tackle Lenny Vandermade. You see, Vandermade has already endured an experience that has given him a new perspective on what's important in life. On Sept.

Design and construction errors caused a water tank rupture that sent a 6-foot-high wall of water slamming into a townhouse complex and fire station in September, according to a report released Tuesday by Westminster officials. But because the tank was built 30 years ago, the city has no legal recourse, officials said--neither the manufacturer nor the contractor is still in business, and the statute of limitations for such action has long since run out.

First the residents of Hefley Street in Westminster had to deal with 5 million gallons of water. Now they have to deal with the insurance companies. They lost their homes, their cars and personal possessions ranging from towels to washing machines. So far, about 70 families affected by flooding when a city water tank ruptured on Sept. 21 have filed claims with the city, and more claims are coming in every day.

Monday night's fierce storm unleashed boulders and tons of mud here, smashing bridges and forcing residents to scramble from their homes. And there was a horse, of course. As ranch hands watched in horror, a yearling filly named Scarlet plunged into the raging Silverado Creek at the west end of Modjeska Canyon about 8 p.m. when the ground collapsed beneath her. The horse survived somehow as she was swept nearly a mile downstream and under a highway before landing on an island.

Wearing hard hats and slogging through reeking muck, victims of a flood from a ruptured water storage tank briefly reclaimed their homes Tuesday before officials tagged 10 of 49 damaged condominium units for demolition. City officials promised aid, from free post office boxes to temporary housing, and Orange County officials declared a local emergency, pledging county resources to help the victims.

Several minor claims have been filed against the city by residents who suffered property damage from last week's rupture of a 5-million-gallon water tank on Hefley Street, city officials said Monday. City Atty. Richard Jones said a few residents have filed claims for damage to cars and other property; he characterized those claims as minor and not involving significant damage to homes.

Residents whose homes were devastated in this week's rupture of a Westminster water storage tank expressed skepticism Friday at the city's assertion that the 10 most severely damaged homes can be repaired instead of rebuilt. "It's ridiculous," said Rich Lechler, a 16-year resident. "It sounds cockeyed to me. I definitely want to come back and I'll be very upset if they don't knock it down. That's why we have insurance."