Sonoma County emergency responders cleanup between rounds of rain
Sonoma County emergency responders cleanup after the storm
Sonoma Countys emergency responders had a busy cleanup day after the storm. Tuesdays heavy rainfall led to flooded roads, mud and landslides and water rescues.
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. - Evacuation orders are still in effect through Wednesday night for the low-lying areas of the Russian River for 34 miles all the way from Healdsburg to Jenner on the Pacific. People under the 36-foot level were ordered to evacuate but many folks did not according to one knowledgeable source.
Sonoma County Fire had to do three water rescues early this morning. "It doesn't take much with this water. If you can't see the center line, don't drive through it," said Karen Hancock, Sonoma County Outreach Specialist.
In Guerneville, this high boy kept low-lying services going. There's a sewer plant at the end of the road, and it's a shift change. We have to keep the plant going 24 hours a day. So we hauled the people across and brought the other shift out.
On River Road, there are actually three bridges that are high enough to cross the swollen river. But, other than that, most of the roads, a bunch of them look just like this, sitting under six to 10 feet of water.
On Wednesday, a bright, cloud-speckled day, drew folks out to marvel at the water level. "It’s all at a pretty high status. I've lived here for three years and I've never seen it this high before," said area resident Justin Buryai. Honestly, we're kind of amazed by how much water is here, and really it's insane to see without going to the beach," said resident Hanna Coe.
River Bend Resort resident Ian Graves actually saw the landslide house from his trailer park which was also flooding. "We all ran up to the edge of the creek there and we saw it going by and we were very concerned there were people still in it. No one knew if there were bodies in it. So, we were screaming along the banks trying to see if there was anyone in there; kind of following it," said evacuee Ian Graves.
The trailer park evacuated people very early, with only a few trailers getting their floors wet. All of our park residents knew at 29 feet that the forecast was changing and subject to change. We had different volunteers from local Facebook groups that would come out and move trailers for us," said River Bend Resort manager Kevin Havsch.
Soon, Caltrans will be examining the roads with a find tooth comb. "When you have sustained rain like this, what we look for is erosion because, as levees, reservoirs, lakes, dams overspill, water goes in areas where it normally isn't intended to go and that compromises the soils that are under our infrastructure, our roadways," said Bart Ney, Caltrans spokesperson.
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