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