Rain continued to pound Ventura County on Monday as mud-soaked floodwater closed roads, isolated communities and residents, forced evacuations and rescues, and shut down businesses and schools.

Two La Conchita residents were killed and at least nine others injured Monday as a massive mudslide tore up the back end of the rural coastal community. At least 12 people were missing and 15 homes destroyed in the landslide. Residents said people were trapped inside homes that were completely buried by the mud.

The deaths brought to at least 12 the number of people killed in the state in the four-day storm, including six in the county.

Flood warnings remained in effect Monday night, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy rain and thunderstorms with winds up to 25 mph are expected to thrash the county through today, followed by sunshine Wednesday, said Stuart Seto, weather specialist. No more rain is expected for the rest of the week.

In the 24 hours leading up to 7 p.m. Monday, the storm had dumped 7.17 inches on Nordhoff Ridge, 4.75 inches on Sulphur Mountain, 2.48 inches at the Ventura County Government Center, 2.09 inches at the Fillmore Fish Hatchery, 4.05 inches at Happy Camp Canyon and 2.44 inches at Moorpark College.

On Sunday, the downpour shattered one-day rainfall records with 3.39 inches in Camarillo and 3.8 inches at the Weather Service's Oxnard office, Seto said. The previous record for both was 1.5 inches in 1995.

State, federal funding sought

State Sen. Tom McClintock on Monday called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare Ventura County a disaster area, in an effort to win state and federal funding.

Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail estimated crop damage at $24 million, with impacts to celery, broccoli, citrus, avocados and strawberries. McPhail said he would present a complete report today at 8:30 a.m. to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

Before the 1:30 p.m. mudslide in La Conchita, road closures severed contact for the area's 200 residents, many of whom were evacuated to a nearby fire station. Identities of the residents killed in the landslide were not available.

The storm has stranded "thousands" of people, both at home and in vehicles, said Eric Nishimoto, spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. A tornado warning was posted for western Ventura County from 6:20 to 7:30 a.m. Monday, but no twister touched ground, officials said. A waterspout had been seen on Doppler radar 15 miles southwest of Ventura at 6:15 a.m., moving east-northeast at 45 miles an hour, Seto said.

Evacuation centers were also open at Nordhoff High School, 1401 Maricopa Highway, Ojai, and the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building, 511 Second St., Fillmore. An American Red Cross shelter has been opened at the Ventura County fairgrounds at Seaside Park in Ventura for people and large animals.

Naval Base Ventura County officials is closing Naval Air Station Point Mugu today, with the exception of critical and essential personnel.

Many county roadways closed

Road closures at Casitas Springs on Highway 33 and a 75-foot-deep sinkhole on Highway 150 sealed off Ojai. Fillmore was cut off by floods on Grimes Canyon Road and Highway 126. All roads in and out of Piru also remained closed for the second day in a row.

It was unclear when officials could reopen roads, said Nishimoto. "That's the problem," he said. "We're dealing with a constant rain."

Caltrans closed Highway 101 at the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line and urged motorists to stay off the freeway. They could not say when the freeway would be open. Search-and-rescue crews were using the freeway as a staging area in La Conchita. Emergency crews planned to work all night to clean up mud and debris off the freeway, said Colin Jones, a Caltrans spokesman in the San Luis Obispo District 5 office.

Amtrak cut off service to and from Ventura County. Metrolink trains from Los Angeles are stopping at Moorpark.

La Conchita, Piru, Fillmore, parts of Santa Paula and the Ojai Valley shouldered the brunt of the storm's fury.

In Piru, authorities evacuated the low-lying eastern half of the tiny farming town -- a little less than half its 1,300 residents -- to an elementary school about 3 p.m. Officials took the precaution, fearing that Piru Creek would overflow, said Ventura County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Dave Wareham.

That's because United Water Conservation District officials began releasing water from Lake Piru about 1:45 p.m. to prevent waters from spilling over the dam, said Dana Wisehart, district general manager. An uncontrolled water release could threaten about five homes below the dam, Wisehart said. Floodwaters had already washed out roads below the dam.

Reservoirs nearly full

United officials made their decision after learning that state water officials began releasing water from swollen Pyramid Lake earlier in the day, Wisehart said. Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County drains to Lake Piru, which empties into the Santa Clara River.

Janet Bergamo, president of the Piru Neighborhood Council, said the episode reprised a 1998 Pyramid Lake release that lead to widespread erosion near the creek.

"This event seems more unpredictable," said Bergamo, a music teacher with the Fillmore Unified School District. "It's like flood on fast forward."

Bergamo, who walked door to door to roust people out of their homes, said there was no food at the elementary school.

"I'm asking residents to bring snacks, water and warm clothes and we'll see how long we have to wait it out," Bergamo said.

Homes flooded in Piru

At least a dozen homes on Piru's Main Street flooded, leaving residents unable to move cars from driveways, Bergamo said. Several homes reported up to 3 feet of water in back yards while a foot of water deluged at least one garage, she said.

Piru uses so-called French drains, essentially small ditches layered with gravel. The drains allow small amounts of water to percolate into the ground, but can't handle the storm's downpour, Bergamo said.

"If we could get someone with a big pump, we could actually do something," said Bergamo.

Meanwhile, state water officials also released water at Lake Castaic, which drains to the Santa Clara River along with Santa Paula, Sespe and Pole creeks, Wisehart said.

"Castaic is also releasing 10,000 cubic feet per second, which means (the Santa Clara River) is going to be rollicking," Wisehart said.

Fillmore officials on Monday evening watched for mudslides, flooding and the potential of a gas line rupture at Pole Creek on the city's eastern border. Officials asked residents who evacuated a dozen homes from the city's north side on Sunday not to return on Monday.

On Sunday, mudslides damaged a half-dozen homes. No one was injured.

County flood control officials kept a close watch on Pole Creek in case they needed to evacuate people elsewhere in Fillmore. County officials had prepared contingency plans for Monday night and today to evacuate people if necessary, said Laura Hernandez, assistant director of the Sheriff's Department Office of Emergency Services.

Debris piled up so high in Pole Creek that it increased the chance of flooding and jammed against the gas line that crosses the creek.

Workers were on standby Monday to cut off the gas if necessary. Joe Chow, a district manager with The Gas Co., said he did not believe it would be necessary. He said Fillmore customers would lose gas if the line were cut.

In Santa Paula, city officials monitored the Santa Clara River and Santa Paula Creek. Steady rains have chewed away at the creek's banks near the city's northern border, and more erosion could threaten up to six homes with flooding, City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. City officials were not contemplating evacuations, Bobkiewicz said.

In Ojai, the kennels at the Humane Society of Ventura County filled with animals from nearby areas as residents prepared for more rain Monday night and today, shelter director Jolene Hoffman said.

Evacuated residents had brought in seven horses, three goats, 25 cats and more than 15 dogs by early Monday evening. The shelter is equipped to handle nearly 50 more dogs and has plenty of space for other animals if needed, she said.

"It's been a nightmare up here," Hoffman said of the weather conditions.

Shelter staff members are working around the clock to answer questions and accept more animals, free of charge, she said. Donations are accepted.

Floodwaters strand SCAT bus

Just south of Casitas Springs, floodwaters stranded a SCAT bus at a stop near Canada Larga Road about 8:30 a.m. Bus driver Judy Gonzalez watched phone poles, trees and debris flow by as she waited for help to arrive. "It was like a beaver dam around us," Gonzalez said.

Members of the Ventura County Fire Department swift-water rescue team pulled Gonzalez and two passengers to safety.

In Thousand Oaks, silt from an embankment slid onto the road at the intersection of Janss Road and Highway 23. Crews worked Monday morning to clean off Janss Road, said Public Works Director Don Nelson. Inside the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, where buckets have lined the building in past rains, problems from leaks were minimal, said facilities manager Tom Hare.

In Agoura Hills, Los Angeles County crews prepared to carry away a two-story pine tree that fell across a channel on Liberty Canyon Road after a concrete wall of the channel broke. The channel, east of Lake Lindero Drive and north of Canwood Street, carries water from Lake Lindero to the storm drain system.

A tree in a Westlake Village park fell in the storm. Crews roped the tree at Berneice Bennett Park on Monday morning.

Moorpark residents navigated around several road closures and detours. Campus Park Drive from Marquette Street to Cambridge Street was expected to remain closed into today, said Community Services Director Mary Lindley, who was speaking on behalf of city emergency personnel.

Flooding forced the closure of Los Angeles Avenue east of Collins Drive to the city limits, she said. The road was open to residents of the Villa Del Arroyo mobile home park, where rising rainwater hadn't yet prompted evacuation.

Mudslides closed a stretch of Princeton Avenue, just east of downtown, although officials were working to get that open before today, Lindley said.

-- Staff writers Zeke Barlow, Jean Ortiz, Grace Lee and Kathleen Wilson contributed to this report.