Live updates: Flooding, power outages, road closures across county (w/video)

North Coast residents awoke Thursday morning to a landscape drenched and battered by the most powerful storm to hit the Bay Area in years, one that sent trees crashing across roads throughout the county.

Check back here for updates throughout the day.

1:15 P.M. -- RUSSIAN RIVER FLOODING DOWNGRADED -- Flooding along the Russian River will not be as bad as feared, according to a revised forecast.

The river is now expected to reach flood stage in Guerneville at 4 a.m. Friday and peak six hours later at 33.9 feet, almost 2 feet above flood level, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s California-Nevada River Forecast Center. On Wednesday, forecasters warned the river could crest nearly 3 feet above flood level, causing minor roadway flooding.

10:31 A.M. -- FLOODING ON THE RISE --- As rainfall increased Thursday morning, the number of flooded roads was on the rise. “We’ve probably got about two dozen roads closed due to floods,” said Rob Silva, the operations manager for the county road department.

This included Rohnert Park Expressway at Stony Point Road, Cazadero Highway, Skylane Boulevard in Windsor and West Sierra Road west of Cotati, where flood waters had exposed a gas main, Silva said. Downed tress or mudslides were also reported on Grove Street Boyes Hot Springs, Chauvet Road in Glen Ellen, Highway 116 in Forestville, Drake Road in Guerneville and the Annapolis area, he said.

The CHP has also sent out alerts warning drivers about flooded highway on-ramps at Westside and Shiloh roads, he said.

“People are having a hard time accessing Highway 101,” Silva said.

CHP Officer Jessica Torres said the list of closed or blocked roads or other active CHP calls was three computer screens long.

“The biggest issues right now are in Geyserville and Healdsburg,” Torres said.

Even the parking lot of the CHP’s office in Rohnert Park was flooding, forcing officers to move their patrol cars to higher ground, she said,

9:00 A.M. - WOMAN RESCUED -- Santa Rosa fire crews rescued a woman whose car stalled out in flood waters at the entrance to Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation offices on Airway Drive in northwest Santa Rosa. The woman was put in a life vest and escorted to safety by firefighters without incident.

8:57 A.M. - POWER OUTAGES CLIMB – The number of customers without power in Sonoma County rose to 19,000 by around 8:45 a.m. Thursday, PG&E spokeswoman Brittany McKannay said. Crews were successfully restoring power to many homes and businesses, but outages kept coming as the rain got heavier around 7 a.m., she said. Outages in other counties included about 200 in Napa, 1,000 in Lake, and 3,300 in Mendocino.

“We did start to see more outages as the rain increased this morning,” McKannay said.

West county communities are being hardest hit, with the largest number without power in Sebastopol, where 5,100 people were in the in dark. Other areas with outages included Jenner, Guerneville, Forestville, Cazadero, Camp Meeker, Occidental, Cotati and Petaluma. At one point Santa Rosa had 1,300 without power, but it had been restored to all but 70, she said.

Anyone who sees a downed power line, always assume it is energized and stay away, she said. Call 911 and PG&E at 1-800-PGE-5000 and crews will respond, she said.

8:35 A.M. - POWER LINES, TREES DOWN ALONG RUSSIAN RIVER -- Fire crews in the Russian River area reported no serious issues by about 8 a.m. but echoed other emergency officials issues of trees down, power lines falling and creeks flooding roadways.

“It's one thing after another after another,” said Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman. By 2 a.m., firefighters started getting busy, including a call to a Monte Vista Terrace home to free a woman trapped in her house by fallen brush and limbs.

“What saved us is we haven’t gotten a whole lot of wind. But we sure have a whole lot if water,” Baxman said.

8:05 A.M. - ROHNERT PARK EXPRESSWAY PARTIALLY CLOSED -- Rohnert Park Expressway is closed west of Rancho Verde Circle to Stony Point Road because of flooding. The Department of Public Safety recommends drivers use Wilfred Avenue.

7:55 A.M. - FLASH FLOOD WARNING -- A flash flood warning was issued for Marin and Sonoma counties, until 10:15 a.m., following heavy rains reported by National Weather Service in the area. Mudslides may result.

7:41 A.M. - ROAD CLOSURES, TREES DOWN NEAR SEBASTOPOL - Southwest of Sebastopol fire, road and PG&E crews were chasing falling trees and road closures, but no major problems, Gold Ridge Fire Chief Dan George said.

The action started at about 2 a.m. The worst problem so far had been the closure of Highway 116 in spots but that had been cleared, he said.

“Everyone is up and going to work and starting to drive” so more problems are being discovered, George said.

In Sebastopol police said they'd had minor outages and minor ponding, but no serious problems.

7:35 A.M. - NO SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN SANTA ROSA - Santa Rosa fire crews responded to a number of weather-related calls, but nothing serious. These included a leaking roof in Oakmont and a limb down by Lola’s Market on Sebastopol Avenue, said Battalion Chief Jack Piccinini.

Overall the storm hasn’t been that challenging for the department to manage so far, he said

“It hardly stands up against any of the really serious storms that we’ve seen over the years,” Piccinini said.

The creeks through the city have risen significantly but aren’t flooding in part because they were lower than average before the storm, h said.

“If this were a storm in February we’d be a little bit more concerned,” Piccinini said.

7:10 A.M. - POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS COUNTY -- Pacific Gas & Electric crews were responding to reports of power lines down across the county, with 11,000 people without power, mostly in west county, according to Santa Rosa Assistant Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal. About 200 people were without power in Santa Rosa, he said.

7:08 A.M. - FOSS CREEK FLOODING IN HEALDSBURG -- Healdsburg police are warning residents and those needing to get to town for work not to drive as Foss Creek has flooded several city streets.

“We’ve got road closures all over the place,” said one Healdsburg dispatcher.“We’re urging people to stay home."

Closures included intersections at Grove and West Grant streets, Dry Creek Road at Grove Street, Piper and Center streets.

Police also were watching the downtown five-way intersection near the railroad tracks due to extensive standing water.

The flood started at about 4 a.m. Healdsburg officers began finding water over several roadways after the creek, which runs through town, had exceeded its banks.

6:36 A.M. – ROADS CLOSED -- Northbound Highway 101 was shut down north of Arata Lane for a vehicle crash and flooding. Motorists were reporting significant flooding on Old Redwood Highway making it difficult to detour around the area. Plugged drains were causing water to back up onto the highway, Sgt. Allan Capurro said.

6:45 A.M. – TREES DOWN – Dispatchers reported dozens of trees down all across the county, including at Sea Ranch and Monte Rio, Freestone, Highway 116 in Cotati and Petaluma at Skillman Lane.