River-Bottom Camps Warned of El Nino

Stepping up efforts to clear out a homeless encampment on the Santa Clara River bottom before winter storms arrive, a local social service agency is warning squatters about the severe weather predictions.

The Commission on Human Concerns, a nonprofit group with offices throughout Ventura County, has assigned a worker to urge homeless people to leave the river bottom and seek shelter with local charities.

On Thursday, caseworker Gilbert Gonzalez said he is telling squatters that forecasters are predicting that this winter’s El Nino storms could be the worst in decades. Oxnard police and local social workers fear that the squatters could be caught in storm-driven floods. But some people living there say they are on high enough ground to remain safe.

Police have headed the effort to get 25 to 35 people living in makeshift huts and trailers to leave. But they have not forced anyone out, and local officials are just beginning to wrestle with the problem.

Oxnard management analyst Dinah Lockhart said the Police Department and city officials will meet soon to discuss the issue. And as they decide how to disburse $78,000 in federal homeless assistance funds, city officials are putting a priority on the river-bottom problem, said Lockhart, a member of the city’s homeless assistance program.