Nine Inches of Rain Bring Trouble Here

The rainstorm conditions this week caused mudslides, felled trees and some serious damage to a preschool at Temescal Gateway Park. Although there was significant property damage, there were no fatalities or injuries. Between Friday and noon Tuesday, the Palisades received 9.15 inches of rain. According to rainmeister Carol Leacock on Bienveneda Avenue, 8.10 inches fell between Friday and Monday noon and another 1.05 inches between Monday and Tuesday. As the rain came down over the weekend, the land softened and became saturated. Late Sunday afternoon, a portion of the backyard patio of the home of Bill and Lori Reineman on Rimmer, about 100 feet above the park, slid down the hillside, and an adjacent pine tree was uprooted. The ensuing mudslide crashed into one of the buildings used by the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center during the week and rented out by various groups for conferences on weekends. The building was unoccupied. Chabad of the Palisades rents the two buildings and the outdoor play space for their preschool program, located beyond the YMCA pool. Last weekend, the Polarity Healing Arts group had rented an adjacent classroom, but due to the pouring rain left early on Sunday, at 3 p.m., before the slide. Joyce Whitehead, the Temescal Gateway Park conference center coordinator, who had been checking different areas of the park throughout the day, came up to the preschool building around 6 p.m., and discovered that the furthermost preschool room was filled with about 3-4 feet of mud. A sofa that was against the far wall of the 25′ x 22′ room was pushed all the way to the other side as was part of the wall and window. About six feet of mud also filled a paved playground area next to the building where the school’s 50-plus preschoolers ride their tricycles. Whitehead called the park ranger and the fire department, and had the power shut off. She had already decided to close down both Seven Arrows Little Dolphins by the Sea Preschool and the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center this week. She also contacted the Reinemans. Although Lori Reineman was home at the time, she was not aware of the mudslide until informed by the park. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy asked the Reinemans to drain their pool to reduce the possibility of that cement coming down also, although Bill Reineman stated that the pool and home are built on bedrock. ‘It’s a shock to have something like that happen, I’ve never seen so much water,’ said Reineman, who was told by L.A. Building and Safety inspectors that it was safe to remain on the property. ‘We have a drainage system, but it was overwhelmed.’ The entire park and the trails have been closed since midday Sunday, and will remain so, due to damage throughout the park, including a felled eucalyptus tree, a swamped sycamore grove, and other water and mud damage. The trails need a 72-hour drying out period after a rain before people can safely walk on them. The YMCA’s Aquatic Center was also closed on Monday as a precaution. There is a small mudslide above the pool area and others in various places throughout the park. The creek through the park has been rushing more than usual, but Whitehead didn’t feel it was in danger of flooding, although the bridge leading up to the Seven Arrows preschool was flooded earlier this week. Soils engineers and geologists and other experts have been inspecting the Reineman home as well as the Temescal Conference grounds in order to recommend about safeguards and reconstruction. Further information is needed before any decisions are made about reopening the grounds. Rabbi Zushe Cunin of Chabad is hoping the Early Childhood Center can eventually return to the Temescal Canyon location, but he is investigating temporary space for the preschool students to begin meeting next week. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Palisades, two large trees fell, causing considerable damage. At about 9 p.m. last Friday a eucalyptus fell across Sunset, between Marquez and Livorno, causing an estimated $20,000 of damage to the front of Miguel Oropeza’s 2000 BMW. Oropeza, who was traveling east on Sunset towards Gelson’s where he has worked for 18 years, said all he remembers is seeing ‘a wall of leaves’ in front of him. ‘My car ran through the branches. I was lucky I did not hit the trunk or the top of the tree or else it would have been a lot worse for me and the car.’ Oropeza, who had to crawl out of the driver side window, was concerned about being further hit by oncoming traffic. He was treated at St. John’s Hospital for back injuries and hopes to return to work by the end of this week. On Sunday afternoon at about 1 p.m., a 20-ft. pine tree suddenly tumbled down in the 100 block of Ocean Way in Santa Monica Canyon, its roots uplifting a brick stairway and its crown landing on a neighbor’s roof. Electricity, which was down for several hours, was restored by the Department of Water and Power by midnight. In addition, the rains triggered a crack at the top of the Asilomar bluffs, causing a 3-ft. movement of the land below in the Palisades Bowl, which houses 178 mobile homes. According to LAFD Captain Dan Thompson at Station 23, 13 people were ordered to evacuate the mobile home park, while the fire department is continuing to monitor the situation. ‘A geologist from the city came out to assess the situation, but felt it was not threatening enough to evacuate the entire park,’ Thompson said. ‘However, we know where the trailers are that might be most effected, who is ambulatory and who has kids, in case the situation merits more assisted evacuations. Station 23 Firefighter Greg Meliota lives in the park and reported that the emergency road behind the park is not usable and he saw water sprouting out of cracks in the ground.’ Captain Thompson could not give a date for the residents to return until the city decides the stability of the hill and how to remediate it. Other damage included boulders which fell onto Palisades Drive, and a mudslide that closed one lane in the 400 block of Paseo Miramar. In addition, Topanga Canyon Boulevard was closed Monday and Tuesday due to a three-story boulder which fell onto the road. This prevented Topanga students from attending school at Paul Revere and Palisades High. ‘Additional reporting by LINDA RENAUD and LIBBY MOTIKA