Storm created headaches and more rain on the way

The storm that flushed through Northern California Tuesday and Wednesday doused parts of Sonoma County with more than two inches of rain.

The deluge felled dozens of trees, flooded low-laying roads, and set off minor rockslides, all causing headaches for Wednesday commuters.

But with significant exceptions — most gravely the 70-year-old woman killed by a falling oak at Safari West — the high winds and heavy rain passed without causing major harm.

"We watched the storm gauges throughout the night," said Richard King, acting battalion chief for the Petaluma Fire Department. "The water level did come up but not to the level that would endanger any private property. That's when the storm quit."

More rain is on the way for New Year's though. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of showers in Santa Rosa Friday with rain possible through the weekend.

Already the National Weather Service has recorded 18.87 inches of rain in Santa Rosa since July 1, 154 percent of normal. Last year, the city had received 8.07 inches in the same period.

The saturated soil, combined with gusting winds, made trees easy prey for Tuesday's gusts. Paul Eaton, an engineer with Sea Ranch Fire, said firefighters had to scramble to deal with a series of downed trees — most of them Monterey Pines — that fell onto Highway 1 Tuesday evening.

"It was very hectic," he said. "A lot of them fell back to back."

One fallen tree caused a minor accident as a vehicle rear-ended a car that stopped for the blockage, but no one was injured, Eaton said. A nearby rock slide on Annapolis Road also caused no injury.

The storm spent its fury quickly before heading south. In Santa Rosa, rain mostly stopped by 10 p.m., said Diana Henderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But the intensity of the runoff caused several sewage overflows in Sonoma Valley.

The Sonoma County Water Agency reported two wastewater spills in Sonoma and two in Boyes Hot Springs that combined to leak 28,000 gallons of wastewater into storm drains, as well as Agua Caliente and Sonoma creeks.

A vacuum truck was used to remove some of the wastewater. Water agency officials said the volume of gushing water in both creeks made it unlikely that the sewage did any harm to fish or wildlife.

Other problems continued Wednesday. John Haley, a 48-year-old Sebastopol man, was injured after a tree and power lines fell on his red Chevy Malibu as he drove down Turner Road shortly after 7 a.m, said Officer Jon Sloat with the California Highway Patrol.

The man's wife took him to the hospital for medical attention, Sloat said. Emergency dispatchers reported downed tree calls throughout the day, but with no injuries.

The effect of the wet winter has so far been softened by Mother Nature's timing. Storms have generally been separated by several days of dry weather giving rivers, creeks, fields and hillside time to drain, reducing flooding and landslides, experts said.