'This Is A Major Flood': National Guard Assists Sonoma County

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has declared a local emergency caused by heavy rain and flooding that forced evacuations from the Russian River area Tuesday. Widespread flooding across many parts of Sonoma County has led to a multitude of road closures as public safety personnel rush to do as much as they can to keep area residents and business owners safe.

The county declaration asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to proclaim a state of emergency that would waive regulations that could hinder response and recovery efforts and provide assistance and relief programs for damage caused by this year's storms and flooding.

"This is considered a major flood," said Chris Godley, Director of Emergency Management in the county's Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Godley and other Sonoma County officials said Wednesday that flooding conditions from the persistent storm this week in the county are improving in most locations but the Guerneville area will remain isolated and in flood stage for at least 24 hours after the Russian River crests at about 46 feet later in the day.

With the emergency declaration made, the county requested four helicopters for emergency medical transport from the California National Guard, and Cal Fire is providing two of them, Godley said.

The National Guard also is providing swift-water rescue personnel and trucks that navigate high water. Local fire departments and law enforcement agencies also have access to boats for rescue, Godley said.

The lower Russian River area is a series of islands of segregated communities, Godley said, with the goal to make each island self sufficient for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Although two shelters for some 3,600 Russian River-area evacuees opened Tuesday, only 55 people stayed at the Sebastopol Center of the Arts and 19 people at the Grace Pavilion at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, Godley said.

The Salvation Army started a meal service for residents affected by flooding. A team from The Salvation Army Santa Rosa Corps and additional personnel from the San Rafael Corps are stationed at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.

Local Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services management has already planned for the meal service to extend at least through Friday night, but staff will continue to assess if further assistance will be needed for the foreseeable future, the organization said.

There is no estimate on the number of people who remain in the Guerneville area and it would be a significant challenge to reach them, according to county officials. Godley said there are several thousands of people living higher up in the hills who chose to stay behind.

"Guerneville is an isolated community. Roads are cut off, water is starting to creep up Main Street and will be approaching the Safeway store in the next several hours," Godley said.

"We are no longer asking people to evacuate. Remain in your residence and hunker down on the second story," he said.

Highway 12 has been closed in Sebastopol from Llano Road to Petaluma Avenue since just after midnight because of flooding from the Laguna De Santa Rosa, Sebastopol police said.

A Sebastopol resident described all the roadways leading out of town as either closed or flooded Wednesday.

Weather-related outages have left 4,416 Sonoma County customers without power, utility spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said mid-day Wednesday.

In addition to flooding, a landslide occurred Tuesday in the 9200 block of Bohemian Highway in Monte Rio.

Godley urged residents countywide to be mindful of mudslides and debris flows along the river and in the burn scar areas from the 2017 wildfires.

"Watch for cracks in roads, leaning trees and the sound of trees breaking," Godley said.

In Petaluma, at least seven roadways were flooded and closed Wednesday morning, with the waters from the morning high tide slowing the pace of receding water, according to the Petaluma Fire and Police Departments.

Residents of the Leisure Lake Village senior mobile home park at 300 Stony Point Road in northwest Petaluma were not able to exit the park, police said. Officers were at the park entrance in case of emergencies, and Denman Lane leading to the park and Stony Point Road was flooded.

Several businesses near Petaluma Boulevard North and Stony Point Road, along Auto Center Drive and Industrial Drive also were closed. Police said they made two rescues of people trapped in a flooded business and another rescue in a car during the night.

Detours were in effect on U.S. Highway 101, police said. The Petaluma Boulevard North exit on southbound Highway 101 was closed, and motorists were being detoured to McDowell Boulevard.

On southbound Highway 101, the Old Redwood Highway exit was closed and traffic was detoured to McDowell Boulevard.

Other closures included Stony Point Road between Pepper Road and Petaluma Boulevard North, and Auto Center Drive just south of Petaluma Boulevard North.

By around 5 p.m. Wednesday, all road closures in the city had been lifted, Petaluma police said.

"The last remaining vehicle that was caught in the flooded waters on Stony Point Road was towed away," police said. "Auto Center Drive was the last road to reopen. Additionally, the eastbound lanes of Washington Street near Howard Street are now open.

Petaluma police noted that a building struck by a vehicle had been temporarily secured to prevent collapse.

In Rohnert Park, police said the only road closure Wednesday morning was Rohnert Park Expressway at Rancho Verde. By 8:30 p.m., that road closure was lifted, according to an update from police.

In Cotati, roads in the area of Portal, Aaron and Houser have reopened, police said.

More information about road closures in Sonoma County is available at Socoemergency.org.

Multiple Sonoma County school districts are closed Wednesday, according to the Sonoma County Office of Education. Closures include: the Alexander Valley Union School District, Cloverdale Unified School District, Forestville Union School District, Fort Ross School District, Guerneville School District, Geyserville Unified School District, Harmony Union School DistrictHeadwaters Academy (SCOE), Healdsburg Unified School District, Horicon School District, Monte Rio School District, Montgomery Elementary School District, Oak Grove Union School District, Rancho Cotate High School (only school in Cotati-Rohnert Park USD to close, due to power outage), Sebastopol Charter, Sebastopol Union, The REACH Charter School, Sebastopol, Twin Hills School District, Village Public Charter School, West Sonoma County Union High School District (entire district now closed), West Side Union School District.

• RELATED COVERAGE: Flooding In Healdsburg: Schools Closed, Emergency Shelter Open

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.