The North Bay appeared to be avoiding the worst of a Presidents Day storm battering Northern California, but with rain continuing to fall Monday afternoon accompanied by strong winds there were still problems across the region including mudslides, a vacation home sliding into the Russian River and woman swept off a rock into the turbulent Sonoma County surf.
Fire crews were called to home on Moscow Road for a report of a sinkhole Monday afternoon, and found a $318-per-night pyramid-shaped rental home severely undermined by the river.
“It looks like it’s getting ready to slide into the river,” Baxman said. “It’s a sad deal.”
The Lakeport Police Department also issued mandatory evacuations for four areas of the city due to rising flood waters, including two mobile home parks and lakefront homes.
A woman who answered the phone at Russian River Vacation Homes said she was aware of the home’s structural issues but it was not currently rented. She declined to provide additional information about the property or its owners. The Air B&B website declared the Pyramid House “an architectural delight” and shows photos of the home’s striking wood interior and wide deck overlooking the river.
Baxman said efforts appeared to have been made to reinforce with rock the footings being undermined by the eroding riverbank, but the home nevertheless was listing toward the river.
“I hate to see a house go down, but I don’t see much hope for it,” Baxman said, noting the river was expected to rise another 7 feet in the next 24 hours.
The river is now expected to crest at 31.7 feet, down from the 34.2 feet originally forecast. The river’s flood stage at Guerneville is 32 feet.
On the Sonoma Coast, a 19-year-old woman who was swept into the ocean at Schoolhouse Beach near Bodega Bay was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The unidentified woman was perched on a rock when she and several other members in a group of five were swept into the frigid water by storm-fueled waves pounding the beach.
A California State Parks lifeguard arrived on the scene about five minutes after the 1:35 p.m. call for help. He could not immediately locate the missing woman, Supervising State Park Ranger Damien Jones said.
Jones said the lifeguard and a Bodega Bay firefighter went into the water after donning special gear to search for the woman. She was found floating facedown and unconscious approximately 10 to 15 minutes after she was reported missing. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter lifted her from the water.
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The woman was taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where her condition was not immediately known.
A washout on Old Monte Rio Road west of Guerneville sent asphalt, mud and trees crashing down a hillside, narrowly avoiding homes on either side.
About 300 feet of the road partially collapsed after the soaked ground beneath it gave way.
Officials at the scene were determining whether the slide posed a risk to Highway 116, about 500 feet below the washout.
The road was closed, preventing vehicular traffic from passing through to homes on the other side of the washout. The homes, which included a vacation rental and a home for sale, were unoccupied at the time of the slide.
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