Rain rolls in to the Bay Area, last-minute preparations underway

Last-minute preparations were underway across the Bay Area Sunday with several days of forecast rain rolling into the region. Some homeowners, who hoped to spend the day picking out presents, instead found themselves grabbing sandbags and clearing gutters and drains.    

As the rain came down Sunday morning and into the afternoon, customers flowed into Pini Hardware in Novato.

"It always gets that way when the rain comes through. People come in looking for tarps and sandbags and things like gutter cleaning equipment," said Bryan Eyslee of Pini Hardware.

Lorie Maloney said she spent her Sunday freeing her drains of "pine needles, leaves."

"We live in a neighborhood with a lot of pine needles. It backs up into the garage if we don’t clean it," she said.

It's the type of yard work that Santa Rosa Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal said should be on every homeowner's storm prep checklist. 

"And most importantly, making sure that your leaves, your leaf litter, whatnot, isn’t going to get into public streets and have the potential to back up or clog up a city street," added Lowenthal.

Lowenthal said wind during the storm also has the potential to create a mess of holiday decorations that aren't secured properly.

Meantime, in low-lying areas historically prone to flooding, many residents are taking added precautions. Sandbagging stations are open across the Bay Area.

"It’s a great idea to find out if your neighborhood has one before you need to," said Eyslee.

Do-it-yourself stations are open in Santa Rosa where a flood advisory was temporarily in effect Sunday afternoon.

On the Russian River, crews are expected to begin deflating a rubber dam on Monday amid concerns about potential flooding from all the wet weather forecast over the next few days. 

But Lowenthal says he is still hopeful that the added rain will end up doing more good than bad.

"A storm like this should, just again, provide some beneficial rains, help restore some of the moisture content that we need in our fuels…and just hopefully [we] get through this without any major issues," said Lowenthal.