TIJUANA – A fence collapsed at dawn Wednesday in the rain killing a woman, but emergency crews rescued a guard that had gotten trapped in a canal near the border, emergency authorities reported.

The woman, identified as Norma Arredondo, 30, died outside her home in colonia Rancho Las Flores, on the city’s west side, said fire department Capt. Marco Antonio Bernal.

Very close to that area last January, two children were swept away and drowned. Their bodies were recovered days later on the U.S. side of the Tijuana River.

The heavy rain flooded many streets across the region for a second day, stranding motorists, whose cars had to be towed out. And some areas remained without electricity after the rain and wind knocked down power lines and trees, authorities said.

Crews from the city’s emergency department, Protección Civil, were out Wednesday morning inspecting the areas considered at greatest risk. A shelter in a sports complex in the La Mesa district had received only 15 people by morning.

Alfredo Escobedo Ortiz, the director Civil Protection, continued to urge residents to not leave their homes unless necessary, and to avoid crossing streets under water or any streams.

He also said that driving was treacherous in the highways leading out of the city to Ensenada and Mexicali, which had some lanes closed by rock and mudslides.

Around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, firefighters received two emergency calls, said Capt. Bernal. One reported that a fence had collapsed in the colonia Las Flores, while the other said that a guard had become trapped in a canal near an area called El Chaparral, by the border.

The captain said crews could not save the woman, who had been buried by the fence. However, they used ropes to rescue the guard who had been safeguarding equipment being used to build a new border crossing.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com