Latest Sonoma County storm death underscores danger of flooded roads for motorists

Six inches of water on a roadway.

That’s all it takes to reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing loss of control and possibly stalling the vehicle, according to the National Weather Service.

Weather service officials say most cars will begin to float in 12 inches of water — something to keep in mind when you’re considering whether to drive through a flooded section of roadway.

The question shouldn’t be up for debate, say public health and safety officials.

Amid a rising string of road deaths linked to storms in California over the past week, state public health officials and local emergency authorities reemphasized Wednesday that flooded roads can be perilous for motorists.

For most cars, all it takes is 18 inches of water to risk a vehicle being swept away. For SUVs and pickups, it’s 24 inches, state officials said.

Their overriding message: Do not drive across storm-swollen creeks or down flooded roads.

The advisory came the same day the body of a 43-year-old Ukiah woman was recovered from a flood-trapped vehicle outside Forestville. The woman had called 911 Tuesday morning to report that floodwaters near Trenton-Healdsburg Road were inside her vehicle just before her line disconnected.

Efforts to locate the vehicle by boat- and helicopter-based crews were unsuccessful. On Wednesday morning, however, rescue divers found the body of Daphne Fontino inside her vehicle, about 200 yards from the banks of Mark West Creek. The water was just above the vehicle’s roof, at about 8 to 10 feet, according to officials.

Karen Hancock, spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Fire District, one of the agencies that responded to the scene at Trenton-Healdsburg Road, said the fatality is a tragic reminder of the dangers of driving through flooded areas.

“We've been experiencing a lot of cars driving into flooded roadways and a lot of cars going around our road closures and our road closure signs,” said Hancock. “And then unfortunately, we had the tragedy this morning.”

Hancock said the fire district and road crews have been putting up road closure signs at sections of flooded roadways. The temporary signs and movable barricades are preferable to concrete barricades, which would hinder emergency crews responding to flood-related emergencies, she said.

“We wouldn't be able to get through as first responders,” she said. “We use some of those points to get boats in or so some of our engines can get in … road closure signs are temporary signs, but they need to be taken seriously and people need to not go around them.”

In San Luis Obispo County, authorities continue to search for a 5-year-old boy who was swept away from his mother’s stranded car by floodwaters north of Paso Robles.

Hancock said she can’t count the number of times she’s repeated the message federal, state and local emergency and health officials often use when it comes to flooded roadways: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Johannes Hoevertsz, director of Sonoma County Department of Public Infrastructure, said the message “is not just a catch phrase — it saves lives.”

Every time floodwater levels rise along the Russian River, motorists will risk driving inundated areas of Slusser, Wohler and Healdsburg-Trenton roads, he said.

“I really don't know what compels people to think that they can make it,” he said. “We put out messages, we put our signs. On Monday, I was on the radio and I heard two people got trapped.”

Indeed. On Monday, at least two motorists were stranded in their engulfed automobiles and had to be rescued. Sonoma County Fire personnel performed four more weather-related rescues at the offramp to Highway 101 near Shiloh Road.

Each of those motorists had driven past a road closure sign, said Hancock, the agency spokesperson.

Federal officials report that more than half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous floodwater. The next biggest share of flood-related deaths occurs when people walk into or near floodwaters.

Hoevertsz called Tuesday’s fatality near Forestville a tragedy. “We hate it when we lose people to a disaster like that,” he said.

“When you make that commitment to cross that road at that water level, you're just taking a big chance with your life,” he added.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.