Evacuations, warnings to stay off Oxnard roads after storm flooding

Authorities issued evacuation orders and warned residents to stay off roads after heavy rain flooded streets in Port Hueneme and Oxnard overnight.

A summary of Thursday's weather woes: Rainy day brings evacuations, flooded roads

Authorities lift Port Hueneme evacuation order

An evacuation order for homes in the the Hueneme Bay community was lifted around 4 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities said roughly 60 homes were under the evacuation order issued early Thursday morning. Around 20 people were taken to an emergency shelter at Oxnard College.

By late afternoon, the evacuees had made alternate arrangements and the shelter has been closed, officials said.

Officials: Get sandbags for free

With wet weather expected through Friday, the Ventura County Fire Department has sand and bags available at two dozen of its stations. Find a list of locations at vcfd.org/sandbag-stations. A video showing how to use sandbags is available at vcfd.org/news/video-sandbag-basics.

Oxnard officials also announced residents could get free sand and sandbags on Thursday and Friday at the Oxnard City Yard, 1060 Pacific Ave.

Storm rainfall totals in Ventura County

Preliminary figures from the Ventura County Watershed Protection District show the following five-day rainfall totals as of 3 p.m. Thursday:

• Camarillo: 1.82 inches

• Matilija Canyon: 8.06 inches

• Moorpark: 2.7 inches

• Ojai: 4.42 inches

• Oxnard: 5.65 inches

• Port Hueneme: 4.94 inches

• Santa Paula: 3 inches

• Simi Valley: 2.79 inches

• Thousand Oaks: 2.57 inches

• Ventura: 4.26 inches

Downpour drops month-worth of rain

During an early morning thunderstorm Thursday, Oxnard received more rain in an hour than it typically gets all month.

Between midnight and 1 a.m., the Oxnard area recorded 3.18 inches of rainfall. The city's average rainfall for the month of December is roughly 2.5 inches, the National Weather Service reported.

Residents rescued during deluge

About 20 residents in the Hueneme Bay community were taken to an emergency shelter early Thursday morning, county Firefighter Andy VanSciver said. Seven of them were rescued with a tactical rescue vehicle known as a MedCat. Ten animals, including cats, dogs and a bird, were also taken in the MedCat.

The MedCat been donated to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office earlier this year after January’s heavy storms, VanSciver said. The rescue vehicle, valued at around $350,000, was donated by Direct Relief, a Santa Barbara nonprofit.

About a dozen swift-water rescues also were performed for people stranded in cars on roadways, VanSciver said. County fire crews along with teams from city departments in Oxnard and Ventura responded, as did county fire hand crews and sheriff’s personnel.

Senior community hard hit by flooding

The brunt of the storm damage appeared to be in the beachside city of Port Hueneme. Roughly 60 homes in a senior community there were evacuated overnight.

Crews were working to clear drains and keep the water moving as the rain continued to fall throughout the morning, said Port Hueneme City Manager James Vega. A damage assessment also was ongoing.

“We had just a massive amount of rain very quickly, and it overwhelmed our drainage system,” Vega said. “We had some significant flooding in areas of the city, particularly the area known as Hueneme Bay.”

Officials reopen Oxnard roads

Most of the streets closed because of flooding in the Oxnard area had been reopened by mid-morning Thursday, authorities reported.

Eastbound Oxnard Boulevard at Statham remains closed. With wet conditions expected to continue, officials urged drivers to use caution.

More rain on the way

After bouts of torrential rainfall early Thursday, areas of Ventura County may continue to get drenched by the slow-moving storm though Friday morning.

Satellite images mid-morning Thursday showed showers and thunderstorms continuing to develop, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"We believe that this activity is going to continue through tonight and into tomorrow," he said.

Areas could receive an additional 1 to 3 inches of rainfall, Sweet said. By Friday night, the rain should start to taper off.

Seniors wake up to flooding

Cecily Willis, 78, and her husband woke up around 2 a.m. Thursday to find inches of water surrounding their bed.

Their Port Hueneme senior community was hit hard when an intense storm dumped inches of rain in less than an hour overnight. By 5:30 a.m., they heard authorities knocking on their door.

The couple, their two cats – Roz and Daphne – and rescue dog Truman were taken to the community's club house and later to an evacuation shelter at Oxnard College. The family and more than a dozen others were still there around 10 a.m.

– Brian Varela

Damage assessments underway

It was unclear Thursday morning how many homes may have been damaged in the intense storm overnight. Authorities were conducting damage assessments in Port Hueneme and nearby areas.

"The area of the Bay Club was severely impacted with some significant water levels," said Kim Dellacort, emergency manager for the sheriff's Office of Emergency Services.

Storm hotline activated

City officials have activated an information hotline for Port Hueneme residents. Those with questions about the storm may call 805-986-6606.

Emergency shelter remains open

An emergency evacuation shelter remains open at Oxnard College Gymnasium, 4000 South Rose Ave. in Oxnard.

As of 8 a.m., officials said around 20 people were at the shelter.

Evacuation warning lifted in Port Hueneme

Authorities have lifted an evacuation warning in Port Hueneme.

An evacuation order and a warning had been issued for separate areas of the Hueneme Bay. While the warning was lifted around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the order remains in place for the area affected by flooding. The order includes areas from:

• North to Bolker Way

• South to Channel Islands Boulevard

• West to Patterson Road

• East to Triton Street

For a map of evacuation areas, visit to vcemergency.com.

Officials cancel special education classes

Due to the storm, the Ventura County Office of Education cancelled special education classes at Carl Dwire School in Oxnard and Sunkist School in Port Hueneme on Thursday. Officials said they would be providing updates to family and staff.

Dwire School is scheduled to go on winter break Friday. Sunkist was scheduled to be open and officials say they will provide an update later Thursday.

Oxnard Union high schools to stay open

The Oxnard Union High School District will keep its campuses open Thursday. The district has schools in Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

"We checked all our campuses and they are all safe and ready to accept students," said Superintendent Tom McCoy. "We know that some students may not be able to get here due to the flooding, but a great majority of students should be able to attend."

Oxnard and Hueneme elementary and middle schools are on winter break, according to the districts' websites.

Authorities close Oxnard roads

The Oxnard Police Department reports the following roads are closed as of 7: 30 a.m. Thursday:

• Westbound Channel Islands Boulevard at Ventura Road

• Southbound Ventura Road to eastbound 5th Street

• Hemlock between Patterson and Bolker

• Channel Islands Road in Port Hueneme

Supercell thunderstorm

A strong storm called “a supercell thunderstorm” hit the county early Thursday, dumping intense rainfall in neighborhoods from Port Hueneme to Ventura, the National Weather Service reported. The storm slowly swept up the coast, prompting a local tornado warning around 1:30 a.m. and a flash flood warning minutes later.

“It was a very, very significant amount of rainfall being produced in a short amount of time,” said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at the agency’s Oxnard office.

Rainfall rates – which typically can cause flooding at 1 inch per hour – reached as high as 3 inches per hour, he said.

Evacuation of senior community, areas of Port Hueneme

About 20 residents of a senior community in Port Hueneme were evacuated early Thursday, said county Firefighter Andy VanSciver. About 10 were rescued in a tactical rescue vehicle known as a MedCat.

The rescues at the Hueneme Bay started after 911 calls came in shortly after 3 a.m., VanSciver said.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services ordered an evacuation of roughly 60 homes near the Hueneme Bay. The order extended from Bolker Way to Channel Islands Boulevard and Patterson Road to Triton Street.

Residents evacuated in the MedCat were taken to a nearby community building. County emergency personnel were moving other residents to the Oxnard College Gym. Also rescued were about a half-dozen pets including cats, birds and dogs, VanSciver said.

Firefighters were swamped with calls as the heavy rain fell across the Oxnard Plain and Port Hueneme areas, VanSciver said. County dispatchers sent crews to about 275 incidents in a five-hour period starting around 1:30 a.m., he said. On a typical day, about 190 calls are dispatched over 24 hours.

When call volume peaked, some 98 calls were pending, VanSciver said.

An evacuation warning also was issued for homes from West Hemlock to Triton streets and Bolker Way to Patterson Road. A warning means people should be prepared to leave, but the threat is not yet imminent.

In addition, evacuation warnings remain in effect for residents in the Foster Park neighborhood near Camp Chaffee Road and several homes in the area of the 700 block of Grada and Trueno avenues near Camarillo. Those warnings took effect at 9 a.m Wednesday.

Oxnard officials urged residents to stay off city streets for several hours until flood waters recede, saying roads and intersections were heavily impacted by standing water. Attempting to drive through the flood waters can cause vehicles to stall and become trapped, officials said.

Tornado warning expires

As of 2:30 a.m., the tornado warning expired without any tornado reported, authorities said. The supercell had remained over any one location a half hour to an hour, Cohen said. During the intense storm, Port Hueneme recorded close to 4 inches of rainfall and an Oxnard location received 4.5 inches of rain.

Rain is expected to continue throughout the day and a flood advisory remains in effect for much of the county and region.

To sign up for emergency alerts in Ventura County, go to readyventuracounty.org/vc-alert. For information about the storm, evacuation warnings and potential road closures, go to vcemergency.com.

This story may be updated.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Flooding forces evacuations, warnings to stay off roads