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Sheriff warns part of Monterey could become an island as California braces for another strong storm

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  perrie-halpern  •  last year  •  6 comments

By:   Tim Stelloh

Sheriff warns part of Monterey could become an island as California braces for another strong storm
Northern California braced for more downpours Wednesday as southern and central regions of the state got a break from torrential rains and prepared for another strong system just days away.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto compared the anticipated flooding of the Salinas River to 1995, when heavy rains devastated the area and left people stranded on either side of the flooded waterway.

"We anticipate we're going to go into a similar situation, but not as bad," she told reporters. "We're asking people to prepare for this."

Flooding is expected to begin Thursday at noon and last until Friday, though residents may not be able to return for days depending on the severity of the event, she said. Towns and hamlets between Chualar, on Highway 101, and the Pacific Ocean were placed under evacuation orders Wednesday.

Tens of thousands more people were under evacuation warnings on the Salinas River, which state authorities warned was one of five waterways around California expected to exceed flood stage in the coming days.

The orders and warnings came as forecasters warned more torrential rains were on tap for Friday and the state's death toll from an onslaught of atmospheric rivers rose to 18, a spokesman for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said.

230111-merced-california-flood-ew-217p-833851.jpg San Diego firefighters help Humberto Maciel rescue his dog from his flooded home in Merced, Calif., on Tuesday.Josh Edelson / AFP - Getty Images

The sheriff's office in Sonoma County said Wednesday that a driver was killed when her car became submerged in floodwaters in Forestville, 65 miles north of San Francisco.

The woman, identified as Daphne Fontino, 43, called 911 Tuesday and reported water in her car before the line disconnected, the sheriff's office said in a statement. Efforts to reach her again failed and authorities called off search when conditions deteriorated, the sheriff's office said.

A search team returned to the area Wednesday morning and found her car 100 yards from the road, the sheriff's office said. It was submerged in 8 to 10 feet of water.

"The Sheriff's Office sends our condolences to victim's family and friends during this challenging time," the statement said.

230111-aptos-california-ew-220p-d05b56.jpg Vehicles drive along a flooded street close to the beach Tuesday in Aptos, Calif.Mario Tama / Getty Images

More rain forecast


The incoming storms show few signs of letting up. The heaviest rains Wednesday — the seventh of nine atmospheric rivers forecast to hit the state through Jan. 18 — were expected to fall on northern and coastal regions of the state.

As of Wednesday at 6 p.m., more than 2 inches had fallen on the Sonoma County community of Venado over 24 hours, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center. San Francisco recorded nearly one inch.

More than 4 million people were under flood watches, and 400,000 more were under flood warnings Wednesday night, mostly in Northern California, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain totals for the last week ranged between 1 and 15 inches across the state, though some communities saw significantly more, state climatologist Michael Anderson told reporters Wednesday.

"In Santa Barbara in one day they had 15 inches," he said.

In Santa Cruz County, storms dumped 23 inches of rain over the past 10 days, damaging 130 homes and destroying eight, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.

230111-los-angeles-sinkhole-ew-220p-67cfc0.jpg Two cars in a large sinkhole that opened in relentless rain Tuesday in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles.Robyn Beck / AFP - Getty Images

"Just a devastating series of storms where our low-lying coastal areas are covered in debris," Hart said on MSNBC's "Chris Jansing Reports."

"It's a mess. I've been here for 35 years [and] experienced fires, floods, earthquakes, a couple of tsunamis, and this is about as bad of a natural disaster as I've seen in this county."

Across the state, there have been 955 reports of flash floods, floods and landslides since the storms began arriving late last month, according to the National Weather Service.

Search for missing child


Rescuers in San Luis Obispo County resumed their search Wednesday for 5-year-old Kyle Doan, who was swept away by fast-moving water Monday.

The team was aided by members of the National Guard who arrived Wednesday afternoon, the first wave of more than 100 troops expected to help in the search, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office said.

The hours of waiting and uncertainty had taken an emotional toll on the family, his father said.

"It's hard to process," Brian Doan said Wednesday. "My wife is getting better, but the way things played out, she's struggling. We all are."

LindsyDoan was driving Kyle to kindergarten Monday when their car reached a flooded dip in the road.

"So when I went into the dip, I realized that I had made a mistake because it was filled on the bottom and my car started to drift and it drifted and crashed into two trees," Doan told NBC Los Angeles.

After their car came to a standstill, Lindsy Doan wanted Kyle to come out the driver's side door, and that's when waters took him away.

"He came toward me, and the currents were so strong that when I tried to hold his hand [with] my hand wrapped around the tree and then the current pulled him away from me," she said.

"Kyle was drifting down the river, and I could see his head bobbing on the top of the river."

More fortunate Californians were able to venture outside Wednesday for the first time in days to survey damage and clear toppled trees.

Impact on drought


The heavy rains may have a silver lining: After years of drought, Anderson, the state climatologist, said Wednesday that the series of atmospheric rivers drenching California had provided "impressive" gains in reservoir storage.

Some of the state's smaller reservoirs were nearing capacity, while the two largest — Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta — had seen a significant rise in water levels, he said.

"The good news is they're off historic lows," he said. "The challenge is, they still have a lot of recovery to make before they get back to normal operating conditions."

Snowpack in the Sierra, which provides just under one-third of the state's water supply, had also seen significant gains, Anderson said. By Wednesday, a season's worth of snow had fallen, he said.

A major system is forecast to hit almost all of coastal California, from the Oregon border to Los Angeles, late Friday afternoon or evening. Forecasts show California could see between 1 and 2 inches of rain around Los Angeles and 3 to 6 inches across much of the rest of the state, including Santa Cruz County.

"We just don't know where the next debris flow or mudslide is going to happen," the sheriff said. "But we have people in position in different communities to help out. So we're ready. We'll take on whatever comes our way."


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Greg Jones
Professor Participates
1  Greg Jones    last year

Hopefully this current event won't be as bad as the flood of 1862

 
 
 
SteevieGee
Professor Silent
1.1  SteevieGee  replied to  Greg Jones @1    last year

Since 1862 they've built dams on the 2 major rivers flowing through Sacramento.  They have also raised the street level 12 feet, put in several weirs and bypasses, and built hundreds of miles of levees.  In midtown there's a lot of tree work going on but no flooding thankfully.

 
 
 
goose is back
Sophomore Guide
1.1.1  goose is back  replied to  SteevieGee @1.1    last year
several weirs

What's a "weir"?

 
 
 
SteevieGee
Professor Silent
1.1.2  SteevieGee  replied to  goose is back @1.1.1    last year

Weir:  a dam in a stream or river to raise the water level or divert its flow.

Look it up in your Funk and Wagnalls.

 
 
 
SteevieGee
Professor Silent
1.1.3  SteevieGee  replied to  goose is back @1.1.1    last year

The Sacramento weir hasn't even been opened yet so there's still a lot of capacity in the Sacramento River right now.

 
 
 
goose is back
Sophomore Guide
1.1.4  goose is back  replied to  SteevieGee @1.1.2    last year

I have never heard that term before.

 
 

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