Tuesday storm updates: Mendocino County woman killed after tree falls on home

A wet and windy storm hit Sonoma County overnight bringing with it thunder, hail and pouring rain.

The storm follows a day of flooded roads and continued power outages.

Reporters on our live coverage team include Madison Smalstig (@madi_smals, madison.smalstig@pressdemcorat.com); Alana Minkler (@alana_minkler, alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com); Emma Murphy(@murphreports, emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com); Mary Callahan (@MaryCallahanB, mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com); Colin Atagi (@colin_atagi); and Martin Espinoza (@pressreno, martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com)

Here is the latest:

6 p.m.: Mendocino County woman killed after tree falls on home

Susan Stever, 68, died early Monday after a tree fell on her Fort Bragg home, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Stever was asleep at 1:40 a.m. inside her home when she was struck by the falling tree, authorities said. Her home is located in a forested area just east of the Mendocino coast, in the 27000 block of North Highway 1, between Fort Bragg and Westport.

3 p.m.: ‘It’s been rough’: Many in Sea Ranch still without power

Sea Ranch resident Richard Pego is hopeful power will soon be restored to his family’s home.

One of thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in the northwestern coastal area of Sonoma County, the retiree, who moved to Sea Ranch 11 years ago, has been without power since Jan. 4.

On that morning, more than 3,000 customers around Gualala, Sea Ranch and Stewarts Point suffered power failures as a result of the storms. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 1,000 customers were still without power.

“It’s been rough,” Pego said, adding he is keeping hope alive that normalcy will soon be restored along with the electricity, which PG&E estimates will happen by 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Since his home went dark nearly a week ago, Pego and his family have had to bathe using boiled tap water, and wear extra sweaters to stay warm because they don’t have a generator.

Pego even had to strap a flashlight to his head as he made his way to a motel in Gualala to get a warm shower, he said.

“We’re hoping,” Pego said of the estimated time of restoration of power to his home.

He added, though, that he has seen how hard PG&E crews are working and understands they are having to brave terrible weather conditions in order to get the power back on.

If for some reason power isn’t restored by Tuesday night, he said he won’t get out of sorts.

“If it doesn’t ... then hopefully tomorrow,” he said.

Paddy and Paul Batchelder have been living full-time in Sea Ranch for 20 years.

Paddy said she and her husband have been surviving fairly comfortably because of their and their propane-run kitchen and generator, which they power up twice a day – just enough for them to download their emails and keep the fridge cold.

They have run into a few snags, such as having to wait in a long line on Jan. 5 at one of the two local gas stations – one of which ran out of gas – and having to make a small repair to their generator. However, Paddy says because they are long-time residents, they are resilient and they were prepared for these power failures.

“The people who choose to live here full time tend to be that way,” she said.

Still, this is the longest power failure Paddy has experienced since she moved to the area.

Paddy said she is not worried about the incoming storms, but she does feel slightly wary.

“We will deal with it when it comes,” she said.

Sea Ranch resident Michele Chaboudy and her husband decided to leave the area after the power went out and head to their condo in Healdsburg.

Chaboudy will probably be staying there for the next few days due to work reasons and partially because she wants to see “how bad the next storm is.”

She has lived in the area for about 22 years and said she is not scared by the rainfall.

Still, she has seen things during this storm that she has not witnessed in previous rains, including watching a tree fall Jan. 3 and barely miss her deck.

“I have never seen tree fall before in front of me like that,” she said.

3 p.m.: New forecast for Thursday puts Russian River in Guerneville just above flood stage

The Russian River is receding from its peak near flood stage at the Guerneville Bridge but is now predicted to rise again with another round of sustained rainfall coming in Wednesday and Thursday.

The latest projection has the river cresting at 32.4 feet at 5 p.m. Thursday, just a few inches above flood level of 32 feet, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Sonoma County authorities earlier Tuesday rescinded a week-old evacuation warning issued for residents of low-lying areas along the Russian River and its tributaries.

But Sonoma County Emergency Services Director Chris Godley said the new river forecast suggests they may need to reconsider.

“We’re going to evaluate conditions on Wednesday to see if we need to take any more preventive measures,” Godley said Tuesday afternoon. “The National Weather Service term for this is ‘roller coaster.’ “

1:30 p.m.: Authorities confirm threat of Russian River flooding has subsided

A Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office official said Tuesday “there’s no threat of river flooding at this point.”

Deputy Rob Dillion said as much in a Facebook post, which he described as the final video update on recent Russian River flooding.

He reiterated that no evacuation orders or warnings remain in place. Water levels have begun receding after peaking at 31.8 feet early Tuesday morning, just below the 32-foot flood stage in Guerneville.

Dillion stressed rain is expected to fall throughout the week and Sonoma County residents should remain cognizant of downed trees and flooded roads.

“Don’t drive through standing water. Turn around, don’t drown,” he said.

12:30 p.m.: Local authorities could not find reported vehicle during water rescue

Local authorities could not find a vehicle that reportedly had been stranded amid floodwaters near Forestville.

The Sonoma County Fire District was dispatched with its swift water rescue gear about 10:10 a.m. to a report of a vehicle trapped in floodwaters near Trenton and River roads, according to Karen Hancock, a spokesperson for the agency.

It was initially reported that water was going over the hood of the vehicle and there were people inside.

Crews later said it was unclear whether anyone was in the reported vehicle, Hancock said.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, Henry 1, also responded and scanned the waters for the reported vehicle.

Officials searched but were not able to locate a vehicle on the road, Hancock said.

“We were never able to find any sign of a vehicle in water that was reported,” she said.

Authorities also attempted to reverse the 911 call to find the exact location of the vehicle and tried to contact the reporting party, but they were unsuccessful.

The Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are taking over the scene and will continue attempting to locate the vehicle and reporting party.

12:05 p.m.: Scattered thunderstorms to continue this afternoon; rainy days ahead

Scattered thunderstorms will continue throughout the Bay Area into Tuesday afternoon, according to Sean Miller, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

“There’s really no break day,” Miller said. Rain, or a chance of it, is in the forecast for Sonoma County every day through early next week.

Another low pressure system will arrive Wednesday night, bringing another half inch to an inch to most of the North Bay, and up to two inches in the coastal hills, he said.

After that, Thursday going into Friday, the region could see another tenth to a quarter inch, he said.

On Saturday and Sunday, another storm will bring anywhere from an inch to three inches to Sonoma County, Miller said.

“These don't appear to be as impactful as what we just experienced,” Miller said. “But that said, everything is very saturated. We're getting more rainfall, so at the very least we'll keep that saturated and we'll still have to watch out for potential concerns.”

10:20 a.m.: Evacuation warning lifted for lower Russian River corridor

An evacuation warning affecting thousands of residents in low-lying areas from Healdsburg to Jenner along the lower Russian River has been lifted, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

The 11:20 a.m. notice from the Sheriff’s Office came about an hour after Paul Gullixson, the county’s communications manager, informed the Board of Supervisors that authorities planned to lift the warning as immediate flooding danger subsided along the river.

The Russian River crested overnight just below its 32-foot flood stage in Guerneville.

The evacuation warning had been in place since Jan. 4, when a punishing, wind-driven storm ushered in a week of extraordinarily stormy weather, flooding roads, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents and swelling streams.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was poised to adopt an emergency declaration, opening up a pathway for state and federal aid. Emergency officials were also set to brief the board on an initial assessment of storm damage.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins on Monday indicated the damage to roads in the county network was likely to be in the millions if not tens of millions of dollars.

9:50 a.m.: Portion of Highway 116 in Guerneville closed due to weather, downed power lines

A section of Highway 116 will be closed for an unknown amount of time due to weather, according to the Caltrans Quickmap.

About 8:45 a.m., California Highway Patrol received a report of power lines down across both lanes of Highway 116 in Guerneville.

The road was closed about 9:20 a.m. to allow crews to deactivate the line.

Crews closed the road indefinitely about 9:30 a.m.

9 a.m.: Power out to more thousands in Sonoma County Tuesday morning

About 4,300 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in Sonoma County do not have power, said PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno.

These majority of these power failures are in coastal communities.

About 1,800 PG&E customers around Bodega Bay are without power following the overnight storm.

The area experienced a power failure about 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to the PG&E outage center.

There is no estimated time of restoration.

More than 3,300 customers in northwest Santa Rosa lost power about 5:45 a.m. Tuesday. Power was restored to about 3,000 customers before 7:30 a.m.

There are about 50 to 500 people still without power around Cleveland Avenue and West 9th Street, according to the outage map.

8:13 a.m.: National Weather Service issues high surf warning

The National Weather Service issued a high surf warning for the Sonoma County coast south to Big Sur in Monterey County, especially west-facing beaches.

The warning is in effect Tuesday at 8 a.m. through Wednesday at 2 a.n.

Very large breaking waves of 20 to 25 feet are possible and swimming and surfing conditions are dangerous, according to the weater service.

8 a.m.: No big uptick in calls, flooded roads due to overnight rain, hail

Rain, wind and even hail bashed portions of the North Bay early Tuesday morning.

Yet, as of 8 a.m. there have not been a huge uptick in reports related to weather and there are fewer road closures and less localized flooding than were seen Monday, according to officials.

There were about nine calls made to Redcom from 12:01 a.m. to about 7:45 a.m. reporting hazardous conditions, which could include downed trees or power lines, according to Redcom dispatchers.

This is a small increase for daily calls but is normal for a storm, dispatchers said.

There is still flooding in low-lying areas near the Russian River and there are multiple creeks swollen with rainfall, however there is less flooding than Monday, said Cyndi Foreman, Sonoma County Fire division chief and fire marshal.

“The amount of rain has not had the impact on surface streets this morning,” she said, adding that it was "pretty quiet across the county, for most part.”

Sonoma County Fire District personnel rescued two drivers Monday night that drove into flood waters in Forestville, said Karen Hancock, spokesperson for the agency.

One motorist drove past multiple road closed signs about 7 p.m. on Eastside Road and continued until flood water almost reached the roof of his car, Hancock said. The driver was able to get himself out of the car and get to higher ground.

About three hours later, a driver did not see the floodwater over Trenton Drive and continued on the roadway. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene about 9:45 p.m., after the vehicle got stuck near Marianna Drive.

As crews arrived, another vehicle was assisting to push the vehicle out of standing water, Hancock said.

Foreman said drivers should continue to be weary on the roads during the storm, despite the decrease in hazards.

“If you cannot see the lines in the roadway, don’t drive through it,” she said.

7 a.m.: Track the storm

Track the storm using the real-time radar map below:

5:20 a.m.: Hail reported near Santa Rosa

A storm system moving across Santa Rosa early Tuesday brought hail near Santa Rosa, according to the National Weather Service.

5:06 a.m: Rohnert Park road reopen

Rohnert Park Expressway at Rancho Verde is open and Martin Avenue/Redwood Drive is open, according to the Rohnnert Park Department of Public Safety.

Authorities remind drivers to be safe, drive slow, and do not drive through water.

2 a.m.: Russian River reaches 31.7 feet, below flood stage

At 2:03 a.m. the California Nevada River Forecast Center reported the river reached a high of 31.8 feet at at 2 a.m., below flood stage of 32 feet.

Monday 6:50 p.m.: Reminder that some school districts are closed on Tuesday

As a reminder, several west Sonoma County school districts will be closed Tuesday due to the ongoing storms.

On Monday, the Sonoma County Office of Education reiterated from a previous announcement that the following districts — and one school — would be closed:

• Fort Ross Elementary School District;
• Guerneville School District;
• Horicon School District;
• Kashia School District;
• Monte Rio Union School District;
• Montgomery Elementary School.

The Office of Education emphasized there are 40 school districts in Sonoma County and others are operating as normal unless included in the above list.

The decision to close is made by each school district.