A Newbury Park woman died in a traffic accident on Highway 23, and a man died outside Ojai while trying to cross the swollen Matilija Creek. Another driver was killed Friday.

Officials said the rain could intensify today as part of a storm system expected to last until Tuesday.

Authorities Sunday identified the man whose body was pulled Saturday night from the Matilija Creek as Andrei Natali of Ojai. He was in his 20s, said a Ventura County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Natali was attempting to cross the creek while it was at extreme flood stage about 7 p.m. Saturday when he was swept away by the current. He had tethered himself to the creek bank by a rope before attempting the crossing. The sheriff's department said he had apparently successfull completed similar foot crossing in the past.

More than 40 members of the county swift water rescue team began searching for him. His body was found two hours later pinned under water.

Maria Guadalupe Castro, 22, of Newbury Park was killed Saturday morning in a single-car crash on northbound Highway 23 just south of Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. A day earlier, Edward Mariano, 23, of Oxnard was killed when he lost control of his vehicle on Fifth Street east of Las Posas Road between Oxnard and Camarillo. Mariano died when his car overturned in a drainage ditch.

In both cases, drivers may have been going too fast for road conditions. "Because of the heavy downpour, it is prudent to slow down and drive at a safe rate of speed," CHP Officer John Davis said.

No major mudslides or flooding has been reported since the rain began earlier this week, but there were reports of minor rock slides on Highway 33.

Rain also contributed to a number of accidents throughout the day.

Lauren Angeles, 21, of Goleta suffered serious injuries after her vehicle spun out of control as she was traveling eastbound on Highway 126 just east of Center Street near Piru. Angeles lost control of her vehicle about 12:55 p.m on the rain-slicked roads, CHP officials said. Angeles' car spun counter-clockwise across the westbound lane and went off the north shoulder of the roadway, striking a guardrail, CHP officials said.

Angeles was unconscious and was airlifted by Mercy Air to Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia. She suffered from a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and cuts to the forehead, CHP said.

In a separate accident, a driver southbound on Highway 33 near the La Canada offramp in Ojai lost control of the vehicle, and it rolled over, CHP officials said. The driver, whose identity was not released, was not

seriously injured but complained of back pain.

Eastern Ventura County saw the heavier rains Saturday, as 0.8 inches fell in Simi Valley and nearly an inch fell in Thousand Oaks. High in the mountains above Ojai, 5.47 inches fell. Ventura had about 0.4 inches.

Rain didn't fall as intensely as predicted on Saturday but could reach up to an inch per hour today, said David Laak, a hydrologist with the Ventura County Watershed Protection District. That intensity, coupled with already saturated ground, could lead to flooding today, Laak said.

A flood watch for all of Southern California remains in effect through Tuesday. Another 1 to 2 inches of rain is predicted for the coastal and valley areas and 3 to 7 inches for the mountains.

Highway 1 in Santa Barbara was closed from its intersection with Highways 101 and 246 because of a crack in the road.

A few power outages were reported across the county.

National Public radio station KCLU in Thousand Oaks remained off the air. It was knocked off Friday morning during a heavy lightning storm. The station's transmitter is at the end of a muddied trail atop a mountain between Camarillo and Thousand Oaks, said general manager Mary Olson. Station technician Mike Tosch and his daughter rode horses to the transmitter Saturday only to find the problem was a blown transformer that Southern California Edison needs to replace.

However, because the transmitter is so inaccessible, Edison needs to fly a transformer to the remote location, Olson said, but a helicopter can't fly until the rain stops, which could be as late as Tuesday.