Rain Floods North Bay Roadways

NORTH BAY, CA — As the Bay Area was drenched Thursday with heavy rain from a fall storm, multiple roadways were left flooded across the North Bay and Bay Area, according to traffic reports from both Caltrans and California Highway Patrol. According to the CHP's Golden Gate Division traffic management website, roadway flooding has been an issue on Bay Area roadways since 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Between 1 and 2 feet of standing water has been reported on some Bay Area roadways, in some cases because of clogged storm drains, CHP traffic logs showed.

The storm has also caused other problems. In the Napa area, state Highway 128 was blocked for several hours at Lake Berryessa near Putah Creek because large rocks fell in the roadway. The incident was first reported at 4:30 a.m. Thursday and affected both eastbound and westbound lanes. By about 11:30 a.m., the roadway was reopened to traffic in both directions.

Thursday evening, a severe traffic alert was in effect for SR-128 at Tubbs Lane in Calistoga, where a downed tree and downed wires were still blocking all lanes as of 6:09 p.m.

SR-128 was also blocked Thursday morning at Silverado Trail in St. Helena, according to CHP. As of 11:30 a.m., that situation was ongoing and involved an obstruction in the road.

In Sonoma County, crews worked quickly when a large oak tree fell across both lanes of state Highway 12 in the Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente area. The blockage was cleared as of about 9:40 a.m., CHP reported.

Another tree reportedly fell in the Napa area at state Highway 121 at Old Sonoma Road. CHP said the tree was blocking the whole roadway, with the situation ongoing as of about noon Thursday.

A rock slide reportedly blocked northbound Butts Canyon Road near Snell Valley Road for a time Thursday afternoon but the roadway has since been cleared.

Elsewhere in Sonoma County, flooding was reported Thursday morning on southbound U.S. Highway 101 south of Westside Road in the Healdsburg area of Sonoma County.

In Solano County, eastbound Interstate Highway 80 was flooded as of 11 a.m. in the left lane and on the shoulder between Davis Street and Alamo Drive in Vacaville.

The National Weather Service expected showers — some with heavy rainfall — to continue throughout the rest of the day Thursday.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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