Gov. Gavin Newsom on declared a state of emergency in five Northern California counties where severe storms have led to flooding that has left some towns completely isolated.
One of the winter’s strongest storms brought flooding across Northern California on Wednesday, with no region hit harder than Guerneville and the Russian River Valley, which has been inundated repeatedly over the decades.
By nighttime, an estimated 2,000 homes and other buildings had flooded, rescuers had saved about 40 people stuck in floodwaters and authorities had closed 89 roads as the river swelled to about 45 feet — 13 feet above flood stage, said Sonoma County spokeswoman Hannah Euser. No injuries were reported.
Deputies in a boat rescued the people on the tractor and the children from the home, authorities said. On Wednesday, she and friends sat outside on her back patio with binoculars, watching huge pieces of floating debris slam into an aging bridge spanning the river below. By Wednesday morning, Guerneville was surrounded on all sides by floodwaters, and as the water rose, the island was broken up into a series of smaller islands.
The restaurant sits next to Highway 12, which was closed by flooding Wednesday afternoon, and was one of the only businesses open, because it is on the second floor. Guerra offered to warehouse a nearby winery’s products so they wouldn’t be ruined.The water level in the Russian River was forecast to peak about 46 feet late Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. It can all be blamed on another river: a weather system known as an atmospheric river.
“When there’s a flood in Sonoma County and it’s on the Russian River, it’s usually the worst in Guerneville,” he said. The town, which is bisected by the river, sits only about 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and the river reaches its crest there, he said.
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