Danville Pelted With Hail, Thunder & Lightning

DANVILLE, CA — Danville woke up to scattered hail, thunderstorms, and more fallen trees as rain continued to pour. Thunderstorms were reported throughout Monday night, followed by scattered lightning, thunder, hail and intermittent downpours throughout Tuesday morning.

All lanes were closed on Camino Tassajara between Alta Vista Way and Woodranch Circle at 5:09 a.m. after a large tree fell.

As of 9:23 a.m., both westbound lanes were open and one eastbound lane was open.

SRVUSD students returned to school Tuesday. Due to the fallen tree and blocked road, Sycamore Valley Elementary sent out a message that no student would be marked tardy. Other than that, no weather-related incidents on any of the campuses were reported, according to district spokesperson Ilana Samuels.

Front Street, which closed Thursday from Diablo Road to Rose Street, is also reopened in both directions as of Tuesday, town spokesperson Jenn Starnes confirmed. Work has completed along Front Street to repair erosion along the creek.

Most East Bay Regional Parks remain closed, though some have reopened. See here for a list.

The town continues to work on repairing potholes caused by the rains, town spokesperson Jenn Starnes said. The town is also working with a contractor and other landowners to assess removal of additional fallen eucalyptus trees.

As of Tuesday afternoon, sun is peeking through the clouds in Danville, though gusts are still reaching as high as 16 mph. For the first time in days, no weather watches, warnings, or advisories are in effect.

The rain is expected to resume Wednesday, with 0.68 inches predicted over eight hours, alongside gusts of 36 mph. Still, the worst of the storm is expected to shift northward Wednesday. A total of 3-7 inches of precipitation is expected to fall across California over the rest of the week. Two-day rainfall totals as of 4 a.m. Tuesday neared 17 inches in parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, according to the National Weather Service.

In Danville, Thursday is expected to be warm and sunny, although more rain is expected Friday through Monday.

PG&E reported two outages affecting 73 people each in Danville and San Ramon earlier Tuesday. At 9 a.m. PG&E reported that 52,911 out of its 93,743 local outages were in the South Bay.

The worst of the storm continued to fall along the Central Coast. Tens of thousands of California residents were evacuated in Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz counties.

The recent series of storms, which had killed 14 people as of Monday and saw a 5-year-old swept away by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County, forced the evacuation of nearly 10,000 people in Santa Barbara County and about 32,000 in Santa Cruz County, according to the Associated Press.

Near Montecito, about 400 people and 70 horses were trapped Tuesday at the Rancho Oso RV & Camping Resort by an impassible amount of mud and debris, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

In Santa Cruz County, where the Associated Press reported that homes were recorded via drone sitting in muddy brown water, evacuation orders had been lifted in many areas by late Monday, according to county officials, while certain zones remained in an evacuation warning.

At least 14 people have died in connection with the storms since New Year’s Eve, according to AccuWeather. The most recent bout of severe weather saw a woman killed when water overtook her vehicle in Avila Beach, NBC News reported. A 5-year-old boy was swept away by floodwaters Monday in San Luis Obispo County, according to AccuWeather, which reported that as of late Monday, only the child’s shoe had been found.

SANDBAGS AND CONTACT NUMBERS

Sandbags remain available at the Town Maintenance Center on 1000 Sherburne Hills Road. Danville residents can pick up up to 20 sandbags. See here for more information.

Anyone in unincorporated Contra Costa County can pick up sandbags at any of six locations around the county.

The town has offered a number of safety tips on driving, downed power lines, fallen trees, and power outages here.

To report clogged storm drains, downed trees, or flooding, call Danville Maintenance at 925-314-3450 ( (M-Th 7:30 am–4:00 pm, Fri 7:30 am–1:00 pm). After hours, call the town’s non-emergency dispatch at 925-820-2144. Residents can also make reports online at www.danville.ca.gov/danvilleconnect.

Danville police will release public safety information through Nixle. To sign up, text your zip code to 888777. For more options, visit nixle.com.

Here are a number of local contacts:

• Danville Police: 925-820-2144
• San Ramon Police: 925-973-2779
• Contra Costa County Sheriff: 925-646-2441
• San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District: 925-838-6691

Other Resources:

• Contra Costa Animal Services: 925-335-8300
• East Bay Municipal Utilities District: 866-403-2683
• PG&E: 800-743-5000

Flood Tips from FEMA: www.ready.gov/floods

— Patch editor Anna Schier contributed to this report.