LAKE COUNTY >> The weekend saw a slight break in the unprecedented amount of recent rains, but now Lake County’s taking on more, pushing infrastructure to the limit.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento put out an official high wind advisory to the public early Monday morning, adding to the service’s long-standing flood warnings. Gusts could sweep through until the storm system passes over California.
Hannah Chandler, an NWS Sacramento meteorologist said the winds will hit the area East of Clear Lake hardest, as the storm system moves into the valley over Sacramento, Yuba City, and Chico.
While those places will need to hunker down the most, Lake County and surrounding areas can expect no quarter from the storm.
“We’re really urging everyone to be prepared for localized flooding and wind damages,” Chandler said. “Those are still really, really high gusts.”
The current storm system should let up by Thursday but — of course — another storm system will likely arrive on the West Coast with the weekend, bringing more of the same, though Chandler said the storm could still move north or south of the region.
Chandler said the area can expect another 2-4 inches of rain before the storm system breaks up around Thursday.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office put out an official health advisory warning residents to avoid flooded areas, specifically contact with the water itself, which may contain traces of sewage.
Clear Lake’s smaller rural townships have struggled to keep up with water and sewage demands. Many of them don’t have the processing speed to keep up with sewage and stormwater leaking into sewage systems. Moreover, Clear Lake has flooded onto roadways and draining into stormwaters systems, creating a constant flow, even without rainfall.
Special and water districts have relied on pump trucks to carry sewage to larger treatment plants. The process proves expensive, but emergency funds from both state and federal levels will ease the burden on local departments.
The relentlessness of the rains has kept local emergency departments busy as flooding, downed trees and mudslides continue to block roadways.
The LCSO sent gave notification of several closures on Friday in many of the usual low-lying roadways, including several stretches of Lakeshore Boulevard.
On Sunday, they sent out an official notice that New Long Valley Road would be temporarily closed. The report claims the road, which marks the only passable way to get in or out of Spring Valley, “has become increasingly unstable and it is anticipated that a landslide may occur.”
During the closure, Lake County Public Works will construct a temporary bridge with the help of the LCSO and Northshore Fire Protection District. Spring Valley residents were encouraged to evacuate or prepare to be self-sufficient until Wednesday or Thursday, when the bridge is projected to be built.
Ukiah dispatch of the California Highway Patrol reported several hazard-based traffic incidents, most of which took place in Lake County, especially around the Clear Lake.
The CHP’s official incident reports showed seven hazard incidents within the five-hour span between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. yesterday morning. A similar pattern continued throughout the day.
As for Clear Lake, the National Weather Service forecast continued flooding for the next two weeks, and that status will likely continue until the lake falls below 9 feet on the Rumsey Gauge.
The rain’s weekend hiatus allowed Clear Lake to drain down to around 9.55 Rumsey, still well above flood stages. But Monday’s steady rain pushed lake levels over 10.0. The National Weather Service predicted last Friday that the lake would reach 10.5, but would likely stay under 11 feet, which marks “severe” flood stage — a level not seen since 1998.
Pacific Gas & Electric reported one outage Monday morning in Lakeport that affected an estimated 29 customers. Other than this report, Lake County saw very few storm-related outages over the weekend due to good weather. Other areas around Ukiah and Napa County also experienced minor outages, but nothing that affected over 150 customers.
