Residents and businesses were still reeling Tuesday from the whopper of a storm that hit the region the day before, with some people being rescued from flooded areas, others awaiting restoration of electricity and still others preparing for the possible spillover of a reservoir.

The storm dumped the most rain that San Diego had seen in about 13 years, according to the National Weather Service. “We got a real deluge,” said Steve Harrison, a forecaster with the agency.

San Diego lifeguards set up a raft and pulley system to save a woman who clung to a fence at Camino del Este, covered in flood waters off Camino de la Reina in Mission Valley about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, the fire-rescue department said.

Then at 6:30 a.m., river rescue crews headed to Premier Inns on Hotel Circle North and Hotel Circle Place, where the parking lot and lobby were under three feet of San Diego River water. Hotel guests, some with suitcases and bags, sloshed through the water to reach lifeguards, who then ferried them across the parking lot by raft. In all, the crews rescued 62 adults, three children, two dogs and a cat, officials said. No one was injured.


The severe weather and flooding were blamed for several power outages around the county.

The San Diego Gas & Electric Co. website showed 1,614 customers without power around Encinitas, Cardiff and Olivenhain as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. Other outages were reported Monday night and Tuesday morning in La Jolla, Clairemont, University City, Mission Valley, Kearny Mesa, Spring Valley and Borrego Springs.

Most of the outages were resolved by the late afternoon.


Downed trees also caused a variety of problems, including severe damage to a home on Riviera Drive in La Mesa shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning. A pine tree about 70 feet tall toppled onto the roof, but the two residents inside were not injured, a Heartland Fire spokesman said.

Trees fell across Honey Springs Road in Jamul about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, blocking lanes in both directions, near Bratton Valley Road according to a community newsletter.

Meanwhile, after Monday’s storm, Lake Poway could soon spill over the concrete spillway designed to divert excess water into the canyons below.

City officials said Tuesday afternoon there’s no immediate threat to life or property, but that out of caution, they have closed the Blue Sky Ecological Preserve and the hiking trails around the lake.


San Diego County had received small amounts of rain Saturday and Sunday. Then the deluge came Monday, with a North Pacific storm tapping moisture from the subtropics.

San Diego International Airport recorded 2.34 inches of rain Monday — a figure that’s higher than the 2.19 inches the city averages for the entire month of February.

Here’s a sampling of rainfall totals at other local sites for the 72-hour period ending at 4 a.m. Tuesday: Palomar Observatory, 9.04 inches; Mt. Woodson, 7.70 inches; Henshaw Dam, 6.69 inches; Lake Cuyamaca, 6.39 inches; Ramona Airport, 5.13 inches; Valley Center: 4.72 inches; Miramar Lake, 4.69 inches; Lake Wohlford, 4.53 inches; Rancho Bernardo, 4.08 inches; La Mesa, 4.07 inches; Poway, 4.69 inches; Escondido, 4.01 inches; Kearny Mesa, 3.57 inches; Santee, 3.31 inches; Carlsbad, 3.24 inches; City Heights, 3.17 inches; San Ysidro, 3.11 inches; Del Mar, 2.84 inches; Encinitas, 2.79 inches; Fashion Valley, 2.72 inches; Alpine, 2.70 inches; El Cajon, 2.45 inches; Fallbrook, 2.15 inches; Chula Vista, 1.96 inches; and Oceanside, 1.95 inches.


Twitter: @grobbins

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com