Laguna Beach Flooding

, Modjeska, Silverado and Santiago Canyons Evacuated: After reopening the Coast Highway, hopefully, before peek rush hour traffic, officials have stated that they will be working on getting Forest Avenue, Broadway, Ocean Avenue and Beach Street opened.

The storm drain channel that should divert excess water below Laguna Beach was unable to cope with the volume of water and simply burst onto Beach Street, with water spraying several feet into the air.

California Governor Schwarzenegger has decided to declare a state of emergency in Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Tulare counties.

More rain and heavy winds are forecast. At Brussels Bistro, a cellar restaurant and bar in downtown Laguna Beach, owner Thomas Crijns, 34, and friends mopped up with push brooms, trying to deal with more than 2 1/2 feet of water that had accumulated overnight.

Elsewhere, Dave Thomas, owner of Areo gifts and home accessories, dried off and reopened for Christmas shoppers.


"Hello? Meanwhile, Landon Gold, 18, and Cody Beckett, 15, grabbed their body boards and headed for Aliso Beach on Wednesday morning after seeing an inland creek overflow into the street near their homes in Rancho Santa Margarita. In Laguna's flood-prone downtown, water gushed out when employees opened the back door of the Art of the Soul gift store about 9 a.m., leaving four inches of mud on the floor. Two hours later, workers had shoveled most of the brown goo into Forest Avenue, the main shopping street downtown, and Laguna Beach contractor Russell Barnes, a specialist in restoration work, was handing out business cards to the shop owners.