Sonoma County officials order mandatory Russian River evacuations

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Thousands of people were ordered to leave homes along the Russian River on Tuesday before they were overtaken by rising floodwaters as an atmospheric river stalled over Sonoma County, inundating the region with unprecedented amounts of rain.

The brunt of the storm has now passed, but its impact will only grow Wednesday as water continues to pour into the rain-swollen river from the hills above. Residents in Guerneville were warned to brace for the worst flooding in more two decades before the Russian River crests late Wednesday night and slowly begins to recede.

About 3,800 people were ordered by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to evacuate more than two dozen communities — including Guerneville, Monte Rio and Duncans Mills — in an area that stretched from Asti in the north to Jenner in the west, where the river empties into the Pacific Ocean. Emergency shelters were opened in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol to house displaced residents.

The river was forecast to crest at 11 p.m. Wednesday in Guerneville at 46.1 feet, its highest level since 1997 when it hit 45 feet. That would still be shy of the record level set by the infamous Valentine’s Day flood of February 1986, when the river submerged much of Guerneville at 49.5 feet.

“We’re talking about access to all of Guerneville being blocked by water. Unless you’re prepared to wait this out for a few days, we recommend people get out of Guerneville. Don’t just move to higher ground so we’re not having to rescue you,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

Russian River at Guerneville

Santa Rosa received 5.66 inches of rain Tuesday, breaking a record for daily precipitation dating back to 1902, the National Weather Service reported. The downpour brought 6.57 inches of rain to Santa Rosa in the 36 hours since the atmospheric river arrived Monday morning. Venado, in the hills west of Healdsburg, amassed more than a foot of rain — an astounding 14.16 inches — over the period.

With the ground fully saturated from the wet winter and recent heavy storms, runoff and overflowing creeks and streams were expected to push the river past flood stage at 32 feet Tuesday night. The river was also expected to rise above its banks in Healdsburg and Hopland before dawn Wednesday.

More than 20 county roads were reported closed by flooding Tuesday night from Sonoma Valley to Healdsburg.

West County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, who represents the lower river area, said the storm exceeded initial forecasts that estimated the river’s crest in Guerneville at 34 or 35 feet.

“It has been a bit of a sleeper storm,” Hopkins said.

But there were dramatic moments, she said, describing a video she received from a friend in Cazadero that showed uprooted full-sized trees floating down Austin Creek.

The unrelenting rains were carried by an atmospheric river — the name given to moisture-laden =bands of water that roll into California from the Pacific Ocean — that stalled over the North Bay on Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Canepa said. Wind and rain are expected to ease Wednesday, Canepa said, with scattered showers continuing into Thursday.

Another storm system is expected to come off the ocean late Friday into Saturday, with a chance of showers Sunday. Next week, a stronger storm with “a juicier flow to it” is expected late Tuesday, Canepa said.