A person who may have been trying to use a paddle board to ride or cross the fast-moving currents of a rain-swollen Escondido runoff channel was found dead in the culvert Thursday afternoon.
A 911 caller reported seeing the person, believed to be male, in the concrete ditch about 4 p.m., said Jeff Murdock, spokesman for the Escondido Fire Department.
Emergency personnel found the body in the area of West Valley Parkway and Tulip Street, Murdock said.
As of 5:30 p.m., firefighters were still working to safely remove the body from the culvert, the spokesman said.
The grisly discovery was made on a day when rainfall pounded the region. More than a half-dozen one-day precipitation records were broken in the San Diego area, according to the National Weather Service. The historic tallies include 10.1 inches at Palomar Observatory; 4.02 inches in Ramona; 3.75 inches in Campo; 3.01 inches in Vista; 2.94 inches in Alpine ; 2.68 inches in Borrego; and 1.28 inches at Oceanside Harbor.
Due to the heavy rainfall, power outages, flooding and road closures, the San Diego County Office of Education announced classes at schools in the Bonsall Unified School District, Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, Fallbrook Union High School District, Mountain Empire Unified School District and the Vallecitos School District are canceled Friday.
Classes are scheduled to resume next week.
The National Weather Service says the flood warning for San Diego County was allowed to expire at 5:15 p.m. The NWS reports the widespread, heavy rain has ended, with only residual light to moderate rain occurring over the mountains and parts of the desert. Flooding is no longer expected to pose a significant threat, but people should remain alert for residual standing water in poorly drained locales Thursday evening.
A wind advisory will remain in effect in the local mountains until 4 a.m. Saturday.
Snow levels will likely drop to around 6,000 feet Thursday evening, weather service meteorologist Miguel Miller said.
Dozens of road closures have been established countywide. Click here for the updated list.
By Thursday afternoon, street flooding and other storm-related problems were reported numerous roadways all over the county, including:
- Airway Road at La Media Road, Otay Mesa
- The 5700 block of Camino del Rey, Bonsall
- Camino del Rio between Camino de la Siesta and Avenida del Rio, Mission Valley
- Carroll Canyon Road east of Mino Drive, Sorrento Valley
- Carmel Mountain Road/Sorrento Valley Road
- Coronado Avenue between Cable Street and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, Ocean Beach (fallen tree on a house)
- Discovery Street/San Pablo Drive, San Marcos
- Country Club Drive/Harmony Grove Road, Elfin Forest
- The 12500 block of Highland Valley Road, Rancho Bernardo
- Market Street/54th Street, Emerald Hills (mud and other debris)
- The 3600, 3700 and 3800 blocks of Midway Drive, Midway district
- Mission Road south of Murray Canyon Road, Mission Valley
- Outer Road near Coronado Avenue, Otay Mesa
- Pala Temecula Road/Sycamore Lane, Pala
- The 11200 block of Roselle Street, Torrey Hills
- San Diego Mission Road between Fairmount Avenue and Rancho Mission Road, Grantville
- San Diego River crossings near Fashion Valley mall, Mission Valley
- 10500 block of Rookwood Drive, Scripps Ranch (fallen 100-foot eucalyptus tree)
- The 2000 block of Saturn Boulevard, San Ysidro
- Sefton Field at Hotel Circle Place. Mission Valley
- The 600 block of Silver Gate Avenue, Point Loma (sinkhole)
- The 10100 block of Sorrento Valley Road (mudslide)
- Upas Street between Texas and Louisiana streets, North Park
Updated Feb. 14, 2019 at 8:10 p.m.
–Staff
