The brunt of Thursday’s storm may have passed but emergency crews are now responding to reports of downed trees, mudslides and slip-outs.
The Russian River is expected to crest at about 34 feet this afternoon — two feet above flood stage.
The County issued advisory evacuation notices to residents living along the Russian River flood zone, with sheltering available at Guerneville Veterans Memorial building.
Though less urgent than last month’s flooding, waters are creeping into the same vulnerable locations in Guerneville, Monte Rio and other west county communities as the river rises.
“We’re seeing a lot of slides and a lot of slip-outs out there,” said Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman.
As of Friday morning, there were 28 roadways in unincorporated Sonoma County closed thanks to this week’s storms, according to the county’s website on road conditions.
Chief Max Ming of the Russian River Fire Protection District said Friday morning that he and his crews would be out surveying the back roads of the Russian River corridor, searching for washed-out roadways and mudslides.
“There are several areas that have little ones,” he said. “Those will just pop up wherever they can.”
Ming said he was relieved to hear that the river was expected to crest at just under 35 feet sometime at noon. That’s about three feet less than what was projected Thursday afternoon.
“That’s a good thing,” said Ming. “We made some arrangements to have two high-water vehicles available should we get any 911 calls for medical emergencies.”
.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
At about 8:30 a.m., emergency crews rescued a woman who was stranded on top of her truck, which was stuck in rising waters near Trenton-Healdsburg Road and Ritchurst Place in Forestville. On Thursday evening, Santa Rosa fire crews rescued a middle-aged man who was stuck in the mud in the Santa Rosa Creek, near the Pearson Street overpass.
The most recent road closures include Alexander Valley Road at Hwy 128, due to flooding; Graton Road in Graton, due to flooding; Cherry Street at Hidden Valley Road in Guerneville, due to a slip-out; and Calistoga Road at Harville Road in Santa Rosa; due to a mudslide.
Officials recommend using Mark West Springs Road as an alternative route.
Highway 1 is closed at 3 locations along the Mendocino Coast and Highway 37, between Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue, is completely closed due to flooding.
Last night’s storm may have been the cause of a power outage in downtown Santa Rosa that caused a blackout at various locations along Mendocino Avenue, from City Hall to the Sonoma County administration buildings.
Santa Rosa Junior College officials reported Friday morning that power has been restored to the main campus in Santa Rosa and all school activities have resumed. However, the school’s Shone Farm remains closed due to high water levels surrounding the west county site.
The Sonoma County Office of Education announced this morning only one school closure, at Guerneville School.
Forecasters for the National Weather Service predicted a 40 to 50 percent chance of showers for Friday.
“It will be minor compared to what we had yesterday,” said Charles Bell, a meteorologist for the weather service in Monterey.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
