Sacramento County braces for more flooding after drowning
A historic week of rainstorms and flooding in California shows no sign of letting up. The Sacramento region — which saw evacuation orders, broken levees, shelter-in-place orders and a drowning death over the weekend — is bracing for another deluge Wednesday and Thursday .
After a lull Tuesday, up to 4 inches of rain is expected in Sacramento County over the next two days, with up to 7 inches in the mountains.
“We already have elevated streams and rivers,” meteorologist Eric Kurth of the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office told SFGATE on Tuesday. “We have significant concerns, we’re particularly concerned about later Wednesday, and into Thursday morning. Anyone living near streams, creeks and rivers should be prepared to get out.”
A strong, wet system Wed-Thu will bring renewed flooding threats to the already-saturated Sac/northern San Joaquin Valleys & foothills.
Expect areas of urban flooding, & rises streams, creeks, & rivers. If you encounter flooded roadways, TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN! #CAwx #CAflood pic.twitter.com/eAU4jXKLq7
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) January 3, 2023
In the city of Wilton, in southern Sacramento County, levees broke after the weekend deluge, covering thousands of acres, stranding residents and closing Highway 99. The freeway reopened to traffic Monday, though Caltrans is reporting some lanes and on-ramps remain closed.
If the rain falls as forecast on Wednesday evening, further flooding and road closures are likely.
“Do not attempt to drive through water. People were driving around barricades, getting trapped and needing to be rescued. We really want to highlight that danger,” Kurth said. “We have a slogan: ‘Turn around, don’t drown.’ Unfortunately we already had one person drown in their vehicle. There’s a very real danger.”
That death was discovered Sunday morning as dozens of cars were rescued from the lake that had formed over Highway 99. KCRA reported that the Cosumnes Fire Department found the as-yet-unidentified body in a car submerged in water.
Elsewhere in California, a 72-year-old Santa Cruz resident died Saturday after being struck by a fallen tree at Lighthouse Field State Beach, reported the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Sinkholes also opened up in both Mendocino and San Mateo County, swallowing vehicles.
After tomorrow’s storm, the state will see another lull on Friday, Kurth says, before yet another rainy weather system moves through the region over the weekend.
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