Storm hits North Coast hard

<p>The first heavy storm of the season slammed the North Coast on Tuesday, knocking out power, flooding Highway 101, closing county roads and making life miserable for vineyard owners and anyone trying to fly out of San Francisco.</p><p>Throughout Northern and Central California, there were 277,000 PG&E customers without power Tuesday night, said PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi. In Sonoma County, just over 1,500 PG&E customers were still in the dark, despite efforts that restored power to almost 500 people during the day.</p><p>The bulk of the power outages were along the county’s coast, where the strongest winds were recorded.</p><p>But the heaviest rainfall was recorded a few miles west of Healdsburg, in the small community of Venado, with 5.8 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Santa Rosa received 3.74 inches of rain.</p><p>Late Tuesday, forecasters said the worst of the storm was over.</p><p>“For the North Bay the rain is pretty much over, and winds as well,” said National Weather Service forecaster Duane Dykema.</p><p>Wednesday is expected to bring only a few light showers and light to moderate wind, Dykema said. Only a quarter inch of rain and winds of 10 to 25 miles per hour are forecast, he said.</p><p>At Coddingtown Mall, the heavy rain leaked through the roof and soaked several businesses.</p><p>“It was raining as much in here as it was outside in the morning,” said John Furtado, the owner of Village Sewing Center.</p><p>The rain brought down several ceiling tiles inside his shop, forcing him to cancel sewing classes and a quilting group. Rainwater collected on some ceiling tiles, causing them to sag, and water poured through light fixtures.</p><p>Several other businesses at the mall reported rain damage.</p><p>Kim Hall, Coddingtown’s marketing director, apologized to merchants and said that mall management was working with a roofing company for immediate repairs.</p><p>“We had been in the process of attaining bids from roofing contractors to address problem areas on the roof prior to this incident, but unfortunately Mother Nature beat us to the punch,” Hall said in a statement.</p><p>But Furtado, who sells high-end sewing machines, fabric and sewing cabinets, said his store is routinely wet when it rains.</p><p>“This happens every time it rains, for years and years,” he said, pointing to old water spots in the ceiling. “We’ve been here eight years and it’s leaked every year.”</p><p> In Healdsburg, the heavy morning rain Tuesday sent a moss-covered oak tree into a house on Redwood Drive just off Fitch Mountain Road.</p><p>The tree fell on a high-tension communications cable that brought down the home’s chimney, separating it from the roof. The cable likely kept the tree from causing more severe damage to the roof, said Darin Quinn, a carpenter and the owner of the damaged home.</p><p>Dozens of trees and tree branches fell in the county as the rain continued to pour, sending PG&E and county crews scrambling throughout the area to make repairs, particularly in West Sonoma County.</p><p>“We have everybody out. It has been mostly trees,” said Rob Silva, Sonoma County Public Works roads manager. “It isn’t blowing much in Santa Rosa, but up in the hills it is blowing a lot harder.”</p><p>Winds gusted to 25 miles per hour at Bodega Bay with swells of 11 feet, keeping all boats in port, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.</p><p>High winds also brought travel advisories for those headed across the Golden Gate Bridge and the other Bay Area bridges during the day.</p><p>Wind created trouble at San Francisco International Airport, where arriving flights were delayed up to 3 hours, FAA officials reported. One runway was closed, delaying flights throughout the day.</p><p>Flights at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport and Oakland International Airport remained on schedule Tuesday morning despite the heavy rain and the high wind advisories.</p><p>Winds were gusting to 18 miles per hour and rain was heavy at the Sonoma County airport, which recorded 2.5 inches of rain by 11 a.m., FAA tower spokesman Stephen Miller said. Most private aircraft stayed on the ground, but commercial and corporate flights were unaffected.</p><p>Flooding brought road closures and partial closures to Scenic Avenue at Old River Road in Forestville, Clayton Road in Franz Valley, Stewarts Point at Skaggs Springs Road, Kruse Road near Seaview, Pine Flat Road, along the Bohemian Highway near Freestone, River Road at Mirabel and Coleman Valley Road near Occidental.</p><p>Highway 101 dropped to one lane in sections between Windsor and Santa Rosa after culverts clogged and drainage measures failed to deal with the heaviest periods of rain.</p><p>The intensity of the storm was part of the story. In the hills above Lake Sonoma, 2.67 inches had fallen by about 10 a.m., and Healdsburg also recorded more than 2 inches of rain.</p><p>Despite inconveniences and delays, there were few serious problems. But the day proved difficult for one man in Rohnert Park.</p><p>Keith W. Honeycutt, 41, a transient, was camping on a pathway behind the Rancho Feliz Mobile Home Park when he awoke at 9:25 a.m. to find the water in the flood control ditch had risen to within two feet of his head.</p><p>Honeycutt was trapped between the ditch, Coleman Creek and a berry patch as the rising waters washed away his tent and belongings, said Lt. Jeff Taylor.</p><p>An emergency team trained in swift water rescues was sent to help Honeycutt, Taylor said. The crew cut a path through the berry patch to free Honeycutt, who was not injured.</p><p>The storm pelted Sonoma County’s 61,000 acres of vineyards, interrupting the annual grape harvest. No serious damage was reported to the crop Tuesday, said Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. </p><p>“I haven’t heard any disaster scenarios as of yet,” Frey said late Tuesday afternoon. </p><p>Vineyards with cover crops are probably faring better than those without them because the grasses help absorb moisture and prevent runoff, he said. </p><p>But many vineyards plowed under their cover crops earlier in the year to save water. The idea was to prevent grasses from competing with vines for the little water remaining in the soil.</p><p>“Ooops,” Frey said. </p><p>The rains, which dumped up to 4 inches of water in the Dry Creek Valley, are turning those vineyards to “soup” that will take several days to dry out, he said.</p><p>“The key is: When does the rain stop and what is the weather afterward?” Frey said. </p><p>Temperatures should be returning to normal later this week, said Dykema, the forecaster for the National Weather Service. Thursday should bring sunny skies with temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees, he said.</p><p>Sunday should bring cloudy skies, but no rainfall is expected, he said.</p><p>Staff Writer Kevin McCallum contributed to this story.</p>