Laguna Beach activated its Emergency Operations Center to help address storm-related impacts, including a debris slide and power outages caused by a strong storm on Tuesday.
Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Garcia said emergency dispatch started receiving a large number of calls for service regarding power lines and trees downed by heavy winds around 9:45 a.m. A tree fell and crushed a car in the Village Entrance parking lot. Branches landing on power lines created power outages in at least three neighborhoods but Southern California Edison crews restored power by Tuesday night, Garcia said.
“These branches seemed insignificant but these branches were contacting power lines and that created a myriad of messes, some being power outages some being explosions,” Garcia said. “When we had tree branches touching two power lines they would cause some loud arcs that were freaking everybody out.”
Caltrans workers closed a lane of Southbound Laguna Canyon Road near the Sawdust Art Festival after a debris slide send debris down the hillside and into the roadway. A crew was still using a jackhammer to break apart one large boulder late Tuesday night.
The Laguna Beach Police Department closed northbound traffic on Laguna Canyon Road near El Toro Road for about 45 minutes to untangle a traffic snarl created by Anneliese school parents rushing to evacuate their children amid flooding near the campus.
“We will be reaching out to them about an evacuation plan for storms here next week and see if we can help them through that. But that system did not work today,” Garcia told councilmembers Tuesday.
“While this week’s storm is rare and unusual for us, it is important to always have an up-to-date course of action to rely on with the city,” Anneliese Schools said in a prepared statement Thursday. “We look forward to working with the police and fire department in executing our thoughtful evacuation plan so parents can pick up their children swiftly and safely in an emergency event.”
One piece of infrastructure that performed as designed was the newly-installed storm drain culvert under Coast Highway at Main Beach. Although storm runoff from Laguna Canyon Creek nearly crested the channel it didn’t spill over onto downtown streets, Garcia said.
“Had this happened last year prior to all this work it would have been a different story,” Garcia said. “[The project] really protected the community today.”
Due to the High Surf Advisory, people were advised to stay out of the water due to dangerous surf conditions. Orange County Environmental Health staff advises swimmers that bacteria levels can rise significantly in ocean waters adjacent to storm drains and creeks during and after rainstorms.
A video posted on a local Facebook group showed a Locust Avenue resident attempting to use a plastic mat to prevent roaring storm runoff from entering his home.
Sandbags are available to residents and business owners at all Laguna Beach fire stations. These sandbags are not for contractors.
