Canyon Roads Are Reopened

Though Laguna Canyon residents are still recovering from last week’s devastating mudslides, commuters will get a break today with the reopening of Laguna Canyon Road.

Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Greg Bartz said Caltrans and city officials reopened the road about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Heavy-equipment operators and dump-truck drivers had been working 24 hours a day since late Feb. 23, when mudslides pushed hundreds of tons of mud onto the canyon road.

But even as residents finished cleaning up in Laguna Beach, a hillside made unstable by the recent rains forced the evacuation of four homes late Sunday in San Clemente and cut off rail service.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies were summoned to evacuate residents of the ocean-view homes. A landslide piled dirt and large boulders onto the railroad tracks, cutting off train service to and from San Diego.

Sheriff’s Lt. Lynn Nehring said the slide occurred about 6:20 p.m. in the 300 block of Paseo de Cristobal.

The attached patio and backyard of one residence and about one-third of the backyard from a neighbor’s house slid down the cliff, sending rocks and dirt onto the railroad tracks, Nehring said.

An Amtrak train carrying 221 passengers to San Diego had to stop just north of the slide area, Nehring said. The train was diverted back to San Juan Capistrano, he said.

Sheriff’s deputies also evacuated residents from two other homes on Paseo de Cristobal, Nehring said.

Sunday’s sunny skies and balmy weather had drawn visitors to South County cities through the day, and Laguna Beach was filled with sightseers apparently eager to spend their weekend outdoors.

Since the canyon road reopened, Sgt. Bartz said, “we’ve been busy . . . with lots of people in town, walking along the sidewalks, looking at the beach and everything. I think people just wanted to get outside because they’re suffering from cabin fever.”

In the wake of criticism that help came too slowly for some canyon mudslide victims, Tuesday’s City Council meeting will focus in part on police and fire emergency response times.

The sea of mud hampered emergency crews across the city as they raced to answer hundreds of calls for help, officials said. After reviewing dispatch logs and response times, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said that police and firefighters did “the best job possible.”

The 911 transcripts offer a chronology of the storm that damaged more than 200 homes and led to two deaths. Authorities responded at scores of locations but in at least one instance needed more than 35 minutes to answer an evacuation plea, the tapes show.

One of those who worked through the chaos was Red Cross volunteer nurse Jill Brandenburger, who refused to let a fractured ankle stop her from helping mudslide victims. Brandenburger, 43, received a bouquet of spring flowers Sunday to honor her “selfless dedication,” courtesy of the local Red Cross chapter.

Brandenburger said she didn’t do anything heroic.

“There isn’t a nurse on this planet who wouldn’t have done what I did to reach those who need help,” said Brandenburger, a mental health nurse who puts her emergency and medical skills to work as a Red Cross volunteer.

After working through Monday night and well into Tuesday morning, Brandenburger returned to her Laguna Beach home exhausted. She had just gone into the shower when her phone rang. It was the Laguna Beach Hotel, where homeless victims had been relocated. One needed her assistance.

She put on her uniform--still wet from the rain--and drove south to a vehicle barricade at Coast Highway. From there, she began walking to the hotel. But as flood waters rose, she stepped into a sinkhole and sank into mud up to her chest.

Luckily, two young men who saw her fall rushed over and pulled her out. Unaware that her ankle was fractured, she continued to the hotel, where she completed her assignment before seeking medical help.

“I’m no hero, just some nurse who got stuck in a hole,” she said.

Also in Laguna Beach, William and Mary Catherine Levin, clients of gardener Carmelo Sarabia, have established the Sarabia Family Relief Fund. A mudslide destroyed the Sarabias’ residence Monday night and nearly killed the couple’s 9-month-old daughter, Tiffany.

“Carmelo has worked for us for almost two years,” William Levin said. “He is very reliable and never missed a day’s work until last week’s tragedy. We like and respect him and wanted to do something that would quickly get him back on his feet to do what he does best, take care of his family.”

Tiffany was swept from her mother’s arms when a river of mud crashed through their residence. Miraculously, the infant was rescued by a stranger and returned to her family.

Those wishing to contribute may make donations to the Sarabia Family Relief Fund, c/o Southern California Bank, 401 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, CA 92651.

Today will mark the first time in two weeks that thousands of morning commuters in the county’s eastern canyon communities of Silverado and Modjeska can resume using Santiago Canyon Road. The road was barricaded between Jamboree and Live Oak Canyon roads when the pavement gave way after heavy rains ruptured an underground storm drain Feb. 17.

“I came home Friday night at about 7 p.m.,” said Silverado Canyon resident Darla Toker, “and that’s when I found out it’s been reopened again.”

For Toker and thousands of other residents, the detour meant getting up earlier and spending more time traveling.

“It’s been very inconvenient,” Toker said. “I live in Silverado and each day would have to drive down El Toro [Road] to the 5 Freeway to go into Orange and then to Anaheim, where I work. It meant an extra 50 minutes. I work at an ice rink and had to leave at 4:50 a.m. to be at the rink at 6:30 a.m.”

Sherry Meddick, another Silverado Canyon resident, said, “I think everybody is very happy.”

Residents aren’t the only ones pleased about the road’s reopening. So are business owners whose sales suffered from the two-week detour.

“We probably lost quite a few customers,” said Jeff Liscio, grocery manager at the Albertsons market near Jamboree. “We were told by a couple of customers they would have to drive an extra 45 minutes just to come here. It took a pretty good toll.”

Though roads will be open for commuters, other work continues as residents recover from the storm. Because of the large volume of people registering for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the registration hours have been extended. Beginning today, hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

President Clinton has ordered federal emergency relief for 35 California counties struck by disaster. More than 16,800 people have registered so far for assistance, including 430 in Orange County, said Elizabeth Quirk, a FEMA spokeswoman in Sacramento.

The agency has been averaging 1,000 phone calls a day, Quirk said. This year, FEMA has written $5.7 million in checks for temporary disaster housing and home repair.

Information: (800) 462-9029.

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David Reyes can be reached at (714) 248-2150. His e-mail address is [email protected]