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Subscribe to RSSAs storms battered Northern California, homeowners in Truckee were on alert that their city's namesake river threatened to flood. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Updated at 5 p.m. ET: Heavy rain storms dumping on central and north California Saturday night and Sunday knocked out power to thousands in San Francisco, Sacramento and elsewhere and caused moderate flooding in a number of communities.
The area, which had been saturated by two major weather systems in the last five days, is expected to receive a short reprieve from the rain before another storm comes through on Tuesday evening, The Weather Channel reported.
The inundation has caused a number of mud and rock slides, mostly during the period of heaviest rain, which then moved eastward across Fresno and Merced, Calif.
There were also reports of road flooding during and just after the heaviest rain, but that threat appeared to lessen as the rain moved into regions that haven't had as much recent rain. All flash flood warnings have expired.
The Truckee River, which wends its way from Lake Tahoe in California to Pyramid Lake in Nevada, 120 miles to the northeast, was rising more slowly than expected, and most flood predictions along the way were scaled back.
In Truckee, Calif., the river was expected to cause minor flooding Sunday afternoon and evening and moderate flooding east of Reno near Vista, Nev. as it crests at a predicted 18.7 feet.
The threat of flooding prompted officials in Truckee, a town of about 16,000, to set up an evacuation center.
Just across the border in Nevada, a state of emergency was declared in Washoe County, including the cities of Reno and Sparks, due to the expected flooding. In Reno, several casinos announced cut-rate rooms to accommodate those displaced, while the City of Sparks opened an evacuation center in a high school.
San Francisco area gets set for third storm system — and flight delays, traffic mess
Minor flooding was also reported on the Napa River near St. Helena Calif., along the Navarro River near the town of Navarro, and on the Mad River near Arcata. Moderate flooding was still predicted for elsewhere on the Navarro river and parts of the Eel, Russian and Napa rivers.
The Napa River overwhelmed downtown Napa in 2005, flooding or destroying about 1,000 homes and forcing thousands of residents to leave the area.
There, residents worked to fill 700 bags with 10 tons of sand, city official Danny Lerma said.
Cathleen Allison / AP
Eric Engles, with Carson City Public Works, clears a storm drain in Carson City, Nev, as a heavy, wet storm hits Northern Nevada on Sunday.
"When you see it happen, you always remember, and you say, 'I'm going to be better prepared,'" Lerma told KGO-TV. "And that's what they're doing right now."
Click here for more weather headlines
The latest storm, which came ashore Saturday night, knocked out power for about 5,000 customers in the Sacramento. It was restored for all but 2,000 customers by 1 p.m. PT. according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Another 6,000 lost power in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, and 8,000 in San Francisco, according to The Weather Channel.
The Napa River was expected to flood near St. Helena and Napa around noon on Sunday, while the Russian River was expected to flood near Guerneville early Monday morning.
The Napa River overwhelmed downtown Napa in 2005, flooding or destroying about 1,000 homes and forcing thousands of residents to leave the area.
The Weather Channel's Chris Warren reports from California where residents are expecting a string of heavy storms.
Holiday cancellations
The weather prompted cancellations of holiday parades and tree lightings in Sparks and Truckee.
Officials also warned people to be careful along beaches.
A high surf advisory was issued by the Weather Service, with swells expected to be 14 to 16 feet along the Northern California coast.
In Southern California, high surf was predicted in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
The stormy weather may be behind a crash involving multiple cars on Interstate 280 outside of San Francisco on Saturday morning, as well as the death of a Pacific Gas & Electric worker in West Sacramento who died after his truck crashed into a traffic signal pole during the stormy weather Friday.
NBC News' Kari Huus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
We'll take the water here in Arkansas.
Then you can pass some along to GA.
Will do. I didn't know GA was still in trouble. Sorry to hear that.
Any overflow welcomed in Phoenix.
Why doesn't Cal build big resivorers to collect the water and use it. It's either to wet or to dry there.
Maybe California could get a billion rain barrel's, my grammy once collected rain in them it works.
Mary - What part of arkansas? I'm in the Conway area and we are supposed to get some rain on Tuesday. I saw it on the Weather Channel app - they are usually wrong, but here's hoping! :)
I'am in the nortwest corner. Right on the 4 state line. Near Rogers and Bentonville. Right on Beaver Lake. You all get rain down south more then we get up here. In the winter we get an ice storm and you all get rain. I like Conway. It's bigger then one thinks. I was through there in June. You all are dryer then we are. I can't remember the last time it rained here.
We are getting a gully washer here right now. Cool! :0)
California already has a series of dams all along the Sierra Nevada mountain range. They were built back in the 1930s under that Socialist New Deal. They have been supplying our agricultural industry with water for decades and is a major reason we are the 8th largest economy in the world.
Socialism! You should try it some time.
miklkit
California used to be the 5th largest economy in the world. What happened? SOCIALISM! We tried that,look what we got!
Record 19 Billion 2011-2012 deficit. 11+% Unemployment. Businesses leaving the State. Record number of Illegal Aliens. Record number of Welfare spending. Agriculture production down because of no water being pumped(Delta Smelt) into the Canal system. Highest sales tax and scond highest income tax in the nation. Yep Socialism at it's finest.
FYI Mary, here in Cali we have over 150 lakes that are over 500 acres. I'm in foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern Cali and I can't think of one river that doesn't have at least one dam or reservoir on it. There are at least 10 lakes within an hour drive from me, all of which are large enough to water ski on. So if ever we are low on water, it's not because there is a lack storage area. We rely a lot on the runoff from the snow pack in the upper mountains to fill the lakes before summer, but sometimes that snow pack isn't enough. The reason is usually because of warm wet storms in late winter or early spring that raise the snow level which melts the snow pack. By this time, most lakes are already full and what is left of the snow pack isn't enough to keep the lakes full all summer. A lot of lakes are low now and can take the water coming in, but that's not our current problem though. The problem is that there is too much water for the rivers to handle and the water is running over the banks.
Where I'm at, I don't have to worry about flooding. What I do have to worry about in this series of storms is the high winds. Because of the heavy precipitation, the ground is saturated so its a bit soft. Here in the foothills there are a lot of evergreen trees and a large portion of those have surface root systems that simply can't support the tree in high winds like we are experiencing. So far this morning, I know of 4 friends who have had trees come down last night. Thank God nobody was hurt. My granddaughter and grandson were staying with friends where they had a tree come through the roof and another friend two houses up from me had his garage and camper demolished. The other two just gained a lot of firewood. AND surprisingly enough... I haven't lost power yet. I usually lose it here with the slightest puff of wind.
start a trans-cali water line
MaryJones,We have reservoirs in California. We've also had fires this year which is cause for some of the flooding.We needed a good soaking but the ground can only take so much water at a time.I'd be in favor of capturing the snow melt,water from the historically flooded states and build a pipeline to ensure that when farming states suffer from a drought they would have the needed water for their crops.
Looks like marysville/yuba city is being hit hard, but not a word. reporters only know main cities. pity
Anyone who says Socialism wrecked CA's economy is a moron and should stop listening to right wing BS. A huge part of California's economy relies heavily on real estate. People were buying two or three houses at a time in hopes of making an instant killing by flipping these houses for a big profit.
Once the music stopped, people were stuck with these houses that were way overpriced and couldn't be unloaded. As a result, construction came to a stop, everyone who was associated with the real estate market (agents, brokers, appraisers, etc.) also lost their jobs, and people claimed BK which meant a huge loss in property taxes. So spare me the socialism crap.
Does anyone know how to change your id? Romney is not my nightmare anymore, he is the repubs nightmare now. As far as cali being socialist isn't it like one of the richest states?(the people not the government) It has far more wealth than many other states.
If you want to change your ID lab rat you need to create a new e-mail account and register a new account under the new e-mail. This works great also when you get banned from the vine for posting things about the inept clown obama deemed to offensive by Tyler. Hope the info helped you out.
Better stop the FRACKING and start worrying about the planet . Maybe there is still time to something about it but I don't think our politicans give a dam.
I'm sure Socialism will make it rain less / or more, right?
@ctviking, and I'm sure you regressive facists will make everything just peachy, right?
Robert - stop Fracking? Is that going to stop the rain? You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you don't like your heat in your house? Where do you think the natural gas comes from that provides the heat for your house? Please don't come back with how there are other options. There are some, but they aren't readily available right now and won't be for a while.
frack off .....bob.....
obviously if they had given a dam, there wouldn't be flooding now would there.
If you must worry (as opposed to actually doing something), don't worry about the planet. It will be rotating the sun long after the human race is gone.
GM Denver Bill
Yeah, after 5 billion + years, the earth is still doing what it has each cycle. The fun part is that the cycle is never exact and that throws the "doomsayers" into a tizzy.
gm Bill
hope the fire out your way is under control soon.
We have dams up in the mountains that were built under the Socialist New Deal. The areas that are flooding now are scenic tourist areas that flood most every wet winter. The last time we had serious problems with flooding was that 100 year storm in 1997-98.
miklkit
Here in my area,San Luis Obispo,we had our 100 year storm in 1970. Then we had another 100 year storm in 1973. The town flooded both times.
robertlevy
Don't like fracking. Give up all your petroleum based consumer items. You know... cell phone, TV, consumer packaging, your car or bike with plastic parts, your take out orders in plastic containers. We The People are pursuing our happiness by consuming all things petroleum. No petroleum you go back to the 1800's or earlier and subsist off what you grow. Think cash only no debit or credit cards with plastic magnetic strips. Give up your electricity even solar because plastic encases the copper wires. Copper mined with heavy equipment running on petroleum. Basically take away petroleum you live in the stone age. No Internet, no radio, no TV. Oh yeah you would have to give up email, texting, phoning. You would be back to snail mail taking three months to cross the country. All that bottled water would have to come in glass bottles from wood or coal fired furnaces. Face it your part of the problem and have no solution.
Robert
I fail to see how fracking has anything to do with a storm coming into northern CA. It seems a similar storm that caused flooding in Napa et alia was experienced in 2005 - then there was no fracking that I am aware of.
When we visited CA, we stopped in Napa area and the guide mentioned that storms (like the one in the article) come around naturally every 5-7 years - and he lived there for the past 30+. It's Mother Nature doing her cyclic appearances.
Have a Good Day!
Thank you Jack! I get so tired of hearing people blame everything on fracking. It doesn't cause rain! That's just absurd!
GM jack, you got it.
GM Scooter
Glad to see you "out and about". Watch the SEC championship yesterday? One of the best games in a real long time!
caught some of it at the Lagoon , dont much follow it though, i do NFL and some seasond nascar.
Yeah, today Patriots vs Dolphins and Tannenhill spoke smack about the Pats! Do Rookies ever learn how to deal with media?
Hope it is a good game. We usually travel from Jax to Miami just to see Brady and the Patriots. However, this year, I am content to view it from my Tropical Paradise and sipping on cool libations and boat drinks!
he will get a quick lesson on the field today. i am a pats fan as well. have been since 74, this could be a repeat year of superbowl XX ( with a different outcome.)
lucky you, but its suppose to get to 59 here, pretty rare for this time of year, hell my birthdays Tuesday and generally, i want to spend it ANYWHERE else as the temps generally hover around zero.
I'm afraid that when it comes, CA, you're on your own.
Obama has effectively told NY to drop dead.
Wow Obama not keeping promises. I"M SHOCKED
My daughter is there with my Mother, they said it's a mess, I keep telling them to send us some here in Texas.
Being from the area, these rivers and coast lines flood quite often. Last big flood was 2006/
Yet we keep building on top of rice field, rebuilding the McMansions on the coast. I say you get what you get, so no throwing fits. They will flood again, rebuild again, like a bunch of ants that have no clue.
OHMYGOD!!! DID YOU HEAR?!! According to the weather guy, it could be DANGEROUS JUST BEING OUT 'n ABOUT!!!!
This is WEATHER people. IT happens. Sometimes it rains more than others. Sometimes it doesn't. It's a cycle. You deal with it and go about your business. If you're an idiot?-you die - but it doesn't take a weather event for that!
This sensationalism in the media blows my mind. However, for the liberals, who DEPEND on the gov't and media to tell them how to think, feel and where to go and how to do everything - I suppose with that growing population, this matters - somehow.
Yes it's sensationalism, but people who live in CA don't buy it. So calm down and go back to being a job creator.
I live in California near Yosemite and this happens every year. Not sure what the big deal is. Must have run out of news because this happens every year.
Naw, Don, it's actually a bit worse than the last few years or so. So it's news in places like Chico and Sacramento, for example, for multiple reasons--not the least of which is the poor condition of our levies. If the writer had given more background, it would make more sense that this actually matters to the locals. If only this was snow in the mountains instead, we wouldn't have to worry about drought this summer!
Holly, yes we would have to worry about a drought. San Francisco gets most of our water and then we send water down to LA. It's crazy they sold the water rights to those big cities. Should have kept them because those people dont worry about water.
Holly,you are correct about the disrepair of the levy's.some are supposed to be maintained by the landowners and others by the state.Jerry Brown and his cronies still can't figure out the best way to address the broken levy system and there isn't any money to fix them anyway.I am sure that the Army corp. is just itching to fix them,at a cost.
It does not happen every year like this, and I've lived here almost 60 years. I have a relative in Turlock who called me earlier, saying his neighborhood had 3 feet of water in it. I am near Fresno, my road, driveway and yard are under water, with more rain coming. This is an area that gets less than 10 inches of rain annually in a normal year (an irrigated desert.) One of the pastures of horses had to be cleared and the horses moved to higher ground when the feeders started floating around. No, this does not happen like this every year. No. Cal. and anywhere near rivers are being impacted harder than here. It is not unheard of, but not "every year" either.
Hey look weather.
opps forgot its a weekend i ment to say...
EEKKKK ..GLOBAL WARMING..........RUN AWAY... RUN AWAY......
yeah and the tinfoil hats are saying "look, the sky is falling, the sky is falling" - and it's wet too!
Hey Scooter,
It's 59 degrees in Rolling Prairie, In. on Dec. 2nd and supposed to be 65 tomorrow...if that's global warming...BRING IT ON!!!!! :D
JACF-1410977,
I'm in northern Minnesota. December 2nd and we had 38 degrees today and Their saying 44 degrees tomorrow :)
Maybe now the Golden State has gotten a taste of Superstorm Sandy and realize that no amount of time and awareness can prepare anyone for flooding and mudslides and people being washed away in flooding.
Northern California floods every 5-7 years, like clockwork, due to the El Nino/La Nina weather cycles. Off the top of my head, we flooded in 1982, 92, 95, 97, and 2005.
Similarly, we're overdue for a massive "200 year flood" ( ) that would surpass the damage of a major quake, which we also experience out here.
So yes, we're well aware of the fact that preparedness is an issue. We also have to deal with earthquakes and fires.
k-1298153,We are not having a hurricane. Mechazawa is correct about the El Nino/La Nina events that occur in California.We had actually have a very golden year due to record levels of heat this summer.The difference between New Jersey and California is that hotel owners in Reno are discounting rooms for evacuees unlike New Jersey who gouged it's own evacuees.come to California one day and you will see what a beautiful state it is along with many of it's people.
Last week scored perfect 6' to 8' surf 4 days in a row, now with the snow covering the mountains, I better wax the snowboard and check my powder riding gear!
California sucks, if you don't live here don't move here and if you are here, move to Texas it's a much nicer place to live...
yep...been to both many time's and i gotta agree with that....but good luck with that whole gnarly surfing thing....oh and bundling up so you can strap boards to your feet and jump off a mountainside.
Surf's up!
So are the sharks!
The problem with all this rain in Commifornia, it makes the trees and plants grow. Which creates more oxygen and clears the air. Pisses off the Libs and the Tinfoil hat junkies.
Maybe they prefer dry timber for the wild fire wiener roast next summer.
The Russian River floods and washes away whatever is left from the last storm: a whole lot of 30's ticky-tack vacation bungalows that will rot into the earth in another 10 years anyway.
Send the mold out to the ocean. It can handle it.
I grew up in the Russian River area. I could never understand why reservoirs or levees were never constructed to help with the continuing flooding problems.
God id punishing NY and CA for electing Godless communists.
Dude, like why is your God like so totally angry and seriously uncool, what happen to that long haired hippie looking dude named Jesus that told his disciples that his father was totally into life being all about brotherly peace, love and understanding?
(jesus ?)he's in rehap... with lindsay lohan.
Notwithstanding this kind of rain, I really miss living in the Bay Area. It is one of the most beautiful places to experience if you haven't already.
I've lived on my houseboat for almost 20 years here on the Sacramento River. The river goes up and down all the time. If it floods I don't mind, I just go up along with the river. I don't have any lawns to mow, life is good.
All that being said ,California sucks. Too many idiot liberals have totally screwed up this once great place to live..That's why I just bought a house on the Sea of Cortes in Mulege, B.C.S.
I'm up for it. It's Better than last year when we go almost no rain. In any case homes that flood in these conditions are built in bad areas. I've lived in North California all my life and this isn't particularly rare and in my view should be looked on in a positive light.
Ok lets get this straight people, San Francisco, Sacramento, is not Northern California, those are centeral!!!!! Chico, Red Bluff, Anderson, and Redding, those are Northern!!! I don't feel sorry for people who build there houses near rivers or oceans and there house get destroyed.
San Francisco and Sacramento ARE part of Northern California, maybe you need to consult a map! Central California roughly extends from San Joaquin County to Inyo County inland, and Monterey on down the coast.
Krzybosguy84,Sacramento is considered part of the San Joaquin Valley,the northern end.It is not in the bay area no matter what the California realtors tell people.My sister lives in Sacramento,I've been there many times and I live in the South San Joaquin Valley.San Francisco is in Northern California,on the west side of the state.
we have never seen an ice age ..and we really do make it seem like the end of the earth,
as we say "we are living on the ass end of time" and it can only get better .
it's 75 degree's in the midwest today, setting a new record for the day, supposed to only get down to 62 for the low. not bad for december.
oooo my,I'd love to be there right now.I'm in Central California and even though we've had much needed rain, I'm a hot weather person.When it's 105 degrees here,I love it.Tomorrow is supposed to foggy which means dampness and probably no sunshine.
One can only pray these rivers will wash away the crooked politicians out of Sacramento. Ca. The reason CA is f--ked up is because of the liberal fools running this once great state.
I love when Gods words to me become facts as his promise to show his truths to me and others. I wrote about this destruction around our country years ago, God saying watch and see. Now watch what happens to Sin city, the plague and viruses of American society as they turn away from God in all their ignorance's and selfish greed. Oh the great promises he said I would witness, the wretched people of these cities and generation of viperous pigs..Thank you Lord, your third promise will testify to me of your great reward and this second one now unfolds and the blind still don't see, the deaf only hear perverted agenda's and the wicked are going to run and hide when they finally know their destination in Hell..Thank you Jesus
God isn't here to serve your anger, hatred and lust for revenge and vengeance. There is no such thing as eternal hell, what father/mother would want that for their children.
These are the end times for such low consciousness belief systems about God...The Jews, Muslims and Christans all have these deluded "our religion is more special than yours" or "we're the true master race" or "we're all going to heaven and you're not" feelings about their versions of God...
Trillions of dollars of AAA toxic assets,two unfunded wars and pwr plants dumping tons of oxides in the
air ea day an the right wingers (wmd bush "decider")for 8yrs has put us in a recession.The wingers
are worried about the old lady spending $90 a month in food stamps.That socialism is killing us!!!"Don't
touch their medicare. God bless the gop M/N corps!!Also the 1%.
Ok , help me out here . What does anything you said have to do with the topic?
Huh?
It doesn't have anything to do with the topic...the loony lefties won the election and they're STILL unhappy...it's in their DNA.
Oh, gimme a break Rex, you dumb sh!t, there are loonies on both sides. You, for example, are a loony on the right.
If you'd quit your goddamned whining and try to work together, maybe we could build this into a better country. It's ass holes like you that keep tearing us apart. Maybe that's in YOUR DNA. Whatever it is has really messed you up.
You lost. get over it.
You're the one doing the whining twinkie. You sound very angry and upset. You should not feel that way since your guy won. As you have seen Obama doesn't want to work together, he wants everything his way even though he has no idea what he is doing. We on the right can't allow that to happen, so we will continue to voice our concerns and criticisms, and you will have to deal with
Now go to your mama and she will give a glass of milk and some cookies to calm you down.
Oh sorry... I wouldn't have been so harsh if I'd known you were only five years old. I thought you were just retarded, I didn't know you were a retarded child.
Right, Obama doesn't want to work with republicans. Who was it that said our goal is to make Obama a one term President at the beginning of his first term? Which party cared more about Obama's birth certificate than fixing the economic crisis we were in? Which party has a record breaking number of fiilibusters? There's a reason why the approval rating for the obstructionists repugs in congress has hit an all-time low. And you will have to deal with the fact that the majority of people are sick and tired of teabaggers and the do nothing congress.
So whine about hurricane Sandy, whine about Christie shaking hands with Obama, whine about demographics and gifts, but understand the repugs are in no position to demand a damn thing. The people have spoken.
Welcome to SUNNY California..Earthquakes not included in the welcome.