Storms bring flooding, power outages and hail to O.C.
A severe storm pummeled Orange County over the weekend, causing flooding and power outages and even bringing with it some hail Monday morning in several areas.
In the coastal regions, people reported seeing hail in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.
Three-day rainfall totals through 9 a.m. Monday included Huntington Beach at 4.06 inches, Costa Mesa at 3.66 inches, Laguna Audubon at 3.54 inches and Newport Coast at 2.13 inches, according to Orange County watershed data on the county’s website.
In Newport Beach on Monday morning, three power outages caused by the weather were reported in Harbor View Homes, the One Ford Road community and the Dover Shores/Westcliff neighborhood, according to Southern California Edison.
City spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said municipal workers were continuing to clean up storm-related debris citywide, including a rockslide that occured on Jamboree Road and sand that accumulated along the boardwalk.
Back Bay Drive remains closed, she said. The thoroughfare, which has sections for pedestrians and bikes only, closed Friday because of flooding, rockslides and fallen trees.
Corona del Mar State Beach’s parking lot was closed Sunday as a precaution because of the threat of high waves and flooding, according to Finnigan.
Mike Martin, owner of Balboa Pharmacy on the Balboa Peninsula, said Monday that his business’s historic neon sign had to be taken down permanently as a result of the weekend storms.
The sign, believed to have been in place since at least the 1950s, became unstable Friday after its support beams were damaged. The area was cordoned off as a public safety measure.
But on Saturday an expert took a look at the sign, Martin said, and determined he was unable to fix it. The sign has since been removed and is unsalvageable, Martin said.
“I really regret not being able to save the sign,” he wrote in an email. “I don’t recall ever feeling so bad about the loss of an inanimate object! I feel like Balboa has lost another part of its charm. That sign was one one of the most photographed objects in Balboa.”
Martin said he is considering remaking another historic Balboa sign from the 1920s to replace the one he lost.
“I guess 70 years is a fair life for a classic neon sign,” Martin added. “I just wish it could have been longer.”
In Costa Mesa, city officials received reports of 34 fallen trees — four of which landed on vehicles and two on houses — and 18 fallen tree limbs. Crews delivered 2,200 sandbags to City Hall and the Placentia Avenue fire station for residents to use to prevent flooding.
However, the city’s Westside experienced severe flooding to the extent that West 19th Street, between Park and Anaheim avenues, was closed for a time Sunday. A section of Main Street at Sunflower Avenue, near Costa Mesa’s border with Irvine and Santa Ana, also was closed.
Some city buildings experienced leaks, including the Police Department headquarters on Fair Drive and the police substation on West 18th Street.
In Laguna Beach, authorities closed Park Avenue between Wendt Terrace and Tahiti Avenue early Sunday night as a precaution because of falling rocks and mud, according to a city news release. No evacuations were ordered and the road reopened at 9:45 a.m. Monday.
Laguna Beach marine safety officials closed all city beaches for an hour early Sunday evening after lightning was spotted, Lt. Kai Bond said.
The boardwalk on Main Beach was closed for a time on Sunday because of flooding.
Flooding occurred Sunday night in Seal Beach near Leisure World, at 13533 Seal Beach Blvd., causing minor structural damage to nearby buildings, said Larry Kurtz, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.
At one point during the weekend Ocean Avenue had accumulated 24 inches of rain, and Monday morning city crews were still working to pump water from the street, Kurtz said.
No evacuations were ordered and no injuries were reported, and the streets were clear by Monday morning, Kurtz said.
Seal Beach had no other storm-related issues, Kurtz said.
Southern California Edison crews were grappling Monday morning with two power outages in Huntington Beach.
One of the outages, at Warner Avenue and Edward Street, was reported at 6:17 p.m. Sunday and was affecting 122 customers, according to Edison Another outage, near Joliet Avenue and Florida Street, was reported at 8:36 a.m. Monday and was affecting 56 customers. Power was expected to be restored by 2 p.m. for both outages, according to Edison.
Huntington Beach city spokeswoman Julie Toledo said no other serious damage had been reported from the weekend.
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