Receding waters spell relief for flooded Northern California towns

[March 01, 2019]  By Katharine Jackson

(Reuters) - Low-lying communities along the rain-engorged Russian River in Northern California wine country were largely cut off by flooding on Thursday, even as waters began receding and sunny skies returned after days of nonstop showers.

The flooding this week isolated the towns of Rio Nido, Guerneville, Monte Rio and Cazadero, inundating roads around those communities, according to the Sonoma County emergency operations center.

With floodwaters receding more slowly than anticipated because of high tides, and many roads still impassable, Sonoma County authorities said evacuation orders and "shelter-in-place" advisories remained in effect for thousands of residents.

Officials said they hoped to allow displaced residents to return home on Friday, once inspectors had a chance to check the safety of bridges and remove hazards such as downed power lines.

"The river is on its way down" and expected to drop below flood stage by 3 a.m. local time on Friday, Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis told an afternoon news conference.

County officials had ordered some 3,600 people evacuated on Tuesday as the Russian River overran its banks, sending floodwaters to the rooftops of homes and submerging cars in and around the town of Guerneville, about 70 miles (112 km) north of San Francisco.

About 3,000 properties were damaged by flooding, according to local officials.

An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 residents were left stranded in communities isolated by high water, county officials said.

Many of those staying behind used kayaks to traverse flooded streets. National Guard troops, along with state and local emergency teams, rescued dozens of people using helicopters, boats and high-clearance vehicles, officials said.

Those rescues included two women found drifting in a boat with no paddles and a newspaper delivery driver whose truck ran off the road into 10 feet (3 m) of water, county Sheriff Mark Essick told reporters.

There were no reports of deaths, serious injuries or people missing in Sonoma County, Essick said.

About 200 miles (320 km) north, a man drowned in a separate flood on Wednesday in the Northern California town of Ferndale, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration on Thursday for five Northern California counties to help them recover from the flooding. The state is experiencing one of its wettest winters in decades.

More rain was forecast for late on Friday but was not expected to cause further flooding.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney)

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