Bay Area rain brings its share of problems

OAKLAND, Calif. - The relentless rain hitting the Bay Area has brought its share of problems, especially in the North Bay.

In Sonoma County, volunteer firefighters in Monte Rio were cleaning up the damage from the storm that left its mark in several ways. At least four homes were damaged Saturday.  In one case, a tree landed on two houses and also fell on three cars, disrupting one group's festive weekend.

"We are here celebrating a good friend's birthday and hiking in the redwoods and enjoying a little stormy weather until it was like an earthquake," said Cynthia Cook.

In another instance, a tree limbed pierced the ceiling of a home, but none of the incidents had reports of injuries.

The fire chief says the drought is actually playing a role in the damage.

"This is our first big storm…several years of drought and all these trees are dry, and now they’re filling up with water…starting to topple over," said Chief Steve Baxman with the Monte Rio Fire Protection District.  

In another Monte Rio spot, an uprooted tree broke a fence and toppled over the roadway.

In another case, a power pole came down leading to outages.

Steady, sometimes intermittent, but persistent best describes how the rain fell throughout much of the Bay Area.

For some, it was a mere inconvenience, like for a visiting Canadian in Walnut Creek who had no choice but to follow his spouse outdoors.

"I got dragged out of the house shopping and I really didn’t want to be here," said Craig Stewart.

Others refused to let the rain impede their plans, or their fashion sense, saying looking good trumps bundling up.  That was the consensus of a group of young women sans rain gear, even though the rain was falling.

"We don’t care enough to, like do anything about it, like our outfits," said Catherine Corcoran.

The rain matters a lot at Toby’s Christmas Tree lot in Walnut Creek where they weren’t seeing a lot of green, other than the trees themselves. Rain or shine, they’re selling from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but the rain is hurting business.

"It’s been slowing stuff down. We go from like 250 sales midday to about seven," said Erfan Nicholson, an employee of Toby’s Trees.

The Bradford family was that seventh sale and exercised patience to make it happen.

"We went home and had lunch…waited a little bit and saw a break and decided to try, so it worked out," said Amy Bradford.

For her young daughter, Ava, the rain is a welcome sight and suits her taste just fine, literally.

"Because I like eating the rain," said Ava Bradford.

If you fancy a taste of the rain, you will likely see plenty more of it.  The forecast calls for a chance of showers well into next week.