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.
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