WEST COAST FLOOD THREAD--Evacuees & volunteers check in here

[librechik]

Here's the first thread from Pachamama:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3186


Here's a couple of links to up-to-the-minute weather reports and local conditions:

WeatherUnderground.com & AccuWeather


http://www.weatherunderground.com/severe.asp

http://headlines.accuweather.com/news-story.asp?partner...


Please add better local links and alerts as you hear them

If you are in the area and can assist evacuees, put your info here

If you need help check in here

and please keep this thread kicked, DU!!

(has anyone heard from Pachamama?)


:grouphug:


:loveya:

good luck and god bless to all those threatened by flooding on the West Coast

[blm]

1. Good call, librechik.....

.

[NV Whino]

2. Still alive and kicking

here in the Napa Valley. Got eletricity back last night about 5:00 P.M. after being without for approx 36 hours. Downtown Napa is a mess, but I'm up on a hill and not too much damage here.

[NancyG]

3. Monte Rio here. Where the fuck is the governator and president?

Electricity going on and off like Morse code. I'm on a ridge, so just housebound and stir crazy. Can't get out and can't walk around outside because the storms create widowmakers, the tops of the redwoods that fall and get caught in the trees and come flying down like spears...whenever. Causal proof of the Theory of Gravity.

My friend with the inn says it needs to be declared a disaster area for people to get low cost loans. Her road is still 8' under where she is.

And do you think anyone's seen FEMA? People here in the flood plain are required to have national flood insurance. The local county supervisor is setting up at the vet's hall in Guerneville as soon as the street defloods.

Has anyone heard the governor? Or the fuck-ass (not that there's anything wrong with that) president speak about this or Texas/Oklahoma?

Helicopters overhead. Unnerving.

[NV Whino]

5. The pretzledent is still on vacation

Arnie's probably trying to save his Hummers.

[troubleinwinter]

7. Good to see you here again!

The rain has just been unceasing! I am worried about your husband trying to get back tinight. The back raods are likely to be flooded/ have mudslides/ fallen trees.

[NancyG]

8. VP Gore was here for the Rio Nido slide in 1998.

Should we expect Cheney?

Down to 38.2'. Flood stage is 32'. My B&B friend is on the phone with me talking about all the work needed to clean up and sheet rock and replace appliances, carpets, everything, and should be able to take guests in May. So big bucks going out and none coming in. Some insurance, but no income.

TIW, DH not coming back until tomorrow now. Thanks.

[Garbo 2004]

19. Yeah, I'm surprised we haven't heard from the Boobengrabber on this little

bit of mess in the state. I know it's not as if Brentwood or Malibu was hit which I'm sure would have brought him out, but still one would have thought he'd find a convenient TV camera to act as if he cared. After all, this is an election year. Strange.

As for the Prez, well, can't reasonably expect him to address this, what with live trees left to kill on his ranch or showing off his "head wound scratch" to wounded vets at a hospital. He's engaged in his usual "hard work." What a joke.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Good news. Arnold has emerged from his hiding place

FINALLY and declared seven northern counties as disaster areas
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=141&topic_id=18414&mesg_id=18457

I guess he didn't want folks flinging mud at him when he toured Napa.

[Coastie for Truth]

4. South Bay and South Valley - Guadalupe River Headwaters

below Gilroy. We're watching - but no changes.
:kick:

Note the avatar - the "new" Red Cross "Red Crystal" logo just approved

[sandnsea]

6. Here's some, and, we've got SUNSHINE!!!!!!

on the Oregon Coast. :woohoo:

Western Advisories by County
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/

California River Stages
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/current/river_flooding/CA.shtml
http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/

Oregon River Levels
http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/

[NancyG]

10. No Guerneville levels at that site...

California River Stages
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/current/river_flooding/C...
This only shows Hopland, way upriver. Guerneville is lower Russian and is still 6' over.

This has the whole river: http://www.sonic.net/~pgrosso/river/#charts

Since the lower Russian River is a depressed area, we were able to buy in 1999. Couldn't afford it now. Even with the flood. It's a gay resort area, so depends on people wanting to come in for the various events. It's interesting to understand the relationship between locals and tourists. Tourists, well, you know. But if it wasn't for tourists, there wouldn't be the great restaurants and shops that attract interesting neighbors that wouldn't normally choose a town of 1000, or an area with a chain of towns of 1000.

Husband definitely waiting until tomorrow to come back. Still raining.

[kineneb]

9. Lake Co./Clear Lake report

Still raining, lake not yet at flood stage...and this is only January...

Base level of lake is considered 1318' elevation, lake currently at 1325.9', our house is 1336.5'

We have a spare futon/sofa, for the time, if needed.


From NOAA site, this morning:

CLEAR LAKE AT
LAKEPORT 7 AM STAGE 7.9 FT
FORECAST TO RISE TO NEAR 8.0 FT WEDNESDAY MORNING
WITH CONTINUED RISE EXPECTED
MONITOR STAGE 8.0 FT, FLOOD STAGE 9.0 FT

Effects:
11.0
MAJOR FLOODING OCCURS ALL AROUND THE NORTH END OF THE LAKE, ESPECIALLY IN LAKEPORT AND CLEARLAKE OAKS. HIGHWAY 20 AROUND THE NORTH END OF THE LAKE IS CLOSED IN SOME AREAS.
9.0
LOW LYING STRUCTURES AND SOME MAIN ROADS AROUND THE LAKE ARE THREATENED BY THE HIGH LAKE LEVELS. (Main roads=Hwy 20)
8.5
MINOR FLOODING OF SOME LAKE SIDE RESIDENTS OCCURS. MORE BUILDINGS ARE THREATENED FROM LAKEPORT TO CLEARLAKE OAKS.

[proud patriot]

11. East Bay checking in

we have repaired our fence that came down
in the winds of Saturday .

I hope all is well out there

[Emit]

12. Hello Californians! I'm in Reno

And while it is not the worst we have ever seen it, we got some water damage after the incessant rain on New Years eve like we have never had before.

Got a leak in my roof and my backyard was so saturated that my family room downstairs flooded (new carpet!). Very unusual considering that we live up a bit in elevation from the Truckee, where most of the flooding occurred (occurs). (In the lower foothills where usually only flash flooding is the problem, not ground saturation.) We have standing water in our crawl space, that we are pumping successfully with the pump from our small backyard pond. The creek behind us is still raging from the run off from the mountains. With a lot of new development over the last few years, it is really concerning us how they have managed the drainage---Wondering if the newer development directly behind my neighborhood had anything to to with the fact that we got this water in the house. Never had it before like this and my in-laws owned this house since it was first built 30+ years ago until we bought it from them 6 years ago.

It continued to rain last night, and we kept vigilant with seeing about the leaks last night. They said it would turn to snow at 4am, but it only recently started to snow about an hour ago.

Good luck to our neighbors in California! My heart goes out to you!

Edited to add: P.S. It's a minor inconvenience to us considering what is happening in parts of California!

[librechik]

13. kick

[catmandu57]

14. The last I knew Pachamamma

Pachamamma and her family had taken refuge in the school, I've been following the thread and haven't heard anymore. I hope they're okay.
I looked at intellicast national radar a little while ago and the rain doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.

[Theres-a]

15. kick

Hope you're all ok.:grouphug:

[mike_c]

16. mike_c checking in from Humboldt Co....

Power is coming back on in much of the county, although still out where I live-- and expected to be out for another day or two. I got some dry ice in the chest freezer just in time today-- the food in the kitchen refrig/freezer is probably gone, but that's a minor worry compared to the chest freezer. Another storm coming tonight/tomorrow, but not with the winds that made the last two so bad. I'm in my office in Arcata-- I'm going to check into a hotel tonight-- I need a (hot) shower!

Some minor flooding locally, mostly causing road closures, and mostly cleared up now. Lots of trees down. The 101 has been closed south of here since Friday, but opened today for controlled one-way traffic-- landslides in both cases. Ditto for 299 east. The 101 north was closed due to flooding at Klamath, but is open now. It was apparently closed at the Oregon border as well, but is open there now too.

It was a pretty crazy weekend!

[cally]

17. I'm in Marin

and my area is fine. Pachamama is in a different part of Marin. I'm going out to check on flooded areas. I'm not sure how close I can get to her area but I'll let folks know what I find out.

[Cleita]

18. We aren't anywhere as badly off as our northern neighbors

here on the central coast. However, gullies are being worn into the edges of our road. The crushed gravel is being washed down the road and is all over the place.

The wind is worrying me more than anything right now. It gusts up to almost gale force for several minutes at a time. I spent a good part of the morning tying everthing free standing to trees and solid fences to keep them from blowing into the houses especially since there is a chance of windows being broken.

This doesn't seem to be letting down at all. So far the electricity is still on but I expect it to go any moment. If it does then you won't hear from me anymore until it's repaired.

[Cleita]

20. Gaaaaaaah! A seventy foot Eucalytus tree just crashed a

hundred feet from my trailer. It demolished the fence between us and the neighbors just missing my son-in-law's workshop. He's rebuilding a 1957 classic chevy Bel Air in there. He would have been pissed if the tree had crushed it. They are out at a football party and won't know about it until they come home.

[nicknameless]

23. Yikes! What do you think brought it down? Wind or saturated ground?

Glad it didn't do worse damage!

[Cleita]

27. Both. The wind was really almost like a gale for awhile

and it came up rootball and all which means that the ground is gettting pretty saturated. Don't like it when it's like this, because things can start sliding down the hill if the ground gives way. California ground near the coast is very unstable because there is very little rock under it.

[nicknameless]

52. Scary. I hope you're not on a hillside :(

In northern CA, there are even places with bedrock that aren't safe during storms. Some hillsides around Montera, Sausalito and San Francisco are very vulnerable to slides. They're pretty to look at -- the rock looks like little cubes, but it's terribly unstable when the hills get saturated.

I'm VERY sorry to hear that the Monterey pines are having a difficult time in So. Cal.
Up here, it looks like even redwood trees are suffering from a condition similar to the oaks (sudden oak death).
Along 101 near Petaluma, they look to be practically dead.

Our poor trees. Not sure which, if any, varieties are resistant to the prevalent diseases and pests.

:(

[Hekate]

24. Yoiks! Where are you? Goleta's drippy but okay. La Conchita's probably

(the residents, that is) sweating bullets waiting to see if that hill slides some more.

I don't trust eucalyptus trees ever since I saw a Toyota pickup truck crushed nose to tail by one in the Burger King parking lot.

You take care, Cleita. I, too, am waiting to hear from Pachamama, though it seems like she and her family were lucky and resourceful to end up in a school cafeteria.

Hekate
:grouphug: for all the soggy DU West Coasters

[Cleita]

28. Yeah, I really wish the family would replace the Eucalyptus with

coastal redwood or something like that. Right now all the Monterey Pine are dying from some disease. All ours are gone except one right next to my trailer that looks like it's getting the disease. I'm near Pismo Beach, which is fairly near La Conchita.

[nicknameless]

22. K&R

[babylonsister]

25. Firefighters search charred TX towns

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060103/ap_on_re_us/grass_f...

By SHELIA FLYNN, Associated Press Writer 17 minutes ago

RINGGOLD, Texas - Authorities went house to house in a search for victims in burned-out towns Monday as firefighters in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma battled grass fires across the drought-stricken region.

Since Tuesday, fires have charred thousands of acres of grassland and farmland and destroyed more than 250 structures in the three states. Four deaths were reported last week in Texas and Oklahoma.

One of the weekend blazes destroyed most of this ranch-and-cattle town of some 100 people near the Oklahoma line, burning about 50 homes and 40,000 acres as wind swept the fire 13 miles from Ringgold to Nocona.

"It didn't take 30 minutes," Carol Ezzell said of the blaze's run through town, destroying all but seven buildings on Main Street, including the post office.

She said the wind caused little fire tornadoes. "It was just turning, and every time it would make a loop it would just leap" and begin burning somewhere new, she said.

more...

[cally]

26. I'm just back from the school where Pachamama was

The water has receded from the area and the school is fine. The city near there had 4 feet of water but the water is gone now. Many homes in the area are damaged and folks are cleaning up. I hope her home is OK.

[Cleita]

29. Did you find her yet?

I hope they are okay.

[cally]

31. I doubt she's still there

I didn't specifically look for her once I realized that many cars were around and houses were accessible now. The storm is over and the water has receded for now. I could see the remnants of the flood on the streets around the school but it's gone now. Folks, city workers, and construction workers are all around the nearby streets cleaning up.

I hope she's OK but I'm sure she was safe at the school. I didn't see any damage or cleanup going on at the school. There could have been damage that I didn't see, though. Many houses were badly damaged in Marin, though. Some are a total loss. :cry:

[Pachamama]

36. PACHAMAMA FINALLY CHECKING IN!

Hello my friends!

First of all, I apologize about not checking in sooner....shortly after my last posting on Saturday morning as my family and I were refugees at a private school up the hill from our house, as I thought things were going well, the power went down. I didn't have much battery power in my laptop and I wanted to conserve it. Since there was no power anywhere in our neighborhood the last few days the last few days, there were obviously no wireless routers and internet connections available either....

Power is finally on and I'm able to report in...We went down to the house that morning to survey the damage...the water on our street had flooded the entire area at about 4+ feet...houses in our neighborhood were flooded in the 1st floors of houses and completely destroyed. We were "lucky"...Our house is somewhat elevated and the flood waters went into our basement, completely destroyed it and all our personal belongings, pantry, emergency supplies!!, water heater, washer/dryer, furnace, ducts etc down there...the water then rose up and, stopped at 1/4 inch below our floor boards to our first floor living area...

I guess the prayers of all my Duers and friends out there were received....we narrowly escaped more disaster....Meanwhile, the house is inhabitable...there is no heat or hot water and the creek that flooded our house is contaminated with dead animals (I saw a dead deer floating and even a bunny rabbit that was probably some poor child's pet) and dirty diapers floating that weren't ours (yuck). We have a clean up service coming tommorrow and we have de-humidifiers running non-stop right now to prevent mold and mildew from the moisture under the floors in the basement. We'd be willing to live in a house without hot water and heat and use space heaters, but the water restoration experts and the industrial hygienist we hired says that there is ecoli and other contaminants in the mud/water/silt in our basement and around the house and if we were to run space heaters to keep warm, it can encourage the growth of mold and mildew.

Meanwhile, we are staying at a friend's house and they have small kids our kids can play with. The hardest thing is we are trying to have some normalcy for the kids in this stressful time. I can deal with the stress, but I don't think they know how. My daughter's school in Ross was flooded, so school is not starting tommorrow and has been canceled all week.

I'm going to check out for now and check in tonite after the Pachababies are asleep and answer more questions and check in with you all and others that have been going through this devastation in California and ofcourse all my fellow DUers who have suffered and have been suffering through Katrina still. I feel that I am blessed and even though this is an awful situation, I cannot and will not even begin to compare it to the devastation and suffering that was endured by our Gulf Coast Bro's and Sisters.

Namaste and Thanks to all of you who have been sending your well wishes and thoughts to me and my family! I believe in the power of prayer and thought, and I think that you helped protect my family and home. Thank you :hug:

[Garbo 2004]

37. Good to hear from you. At least you & your family are ok. n/t

[proud patriot]

39. Good to hear from you

:hug:

[HeeBGBz]

47. Welcome back. We was worried.

I'm glad you are okay. Sorry to hear about the damage to your home.
Gaia is angry, it seems.

[Coastie for Truth]

49. Glad you're back - safe

Power in the shelters (from a portable generator) is not that reliable for laptops.

I have been on and off standby - and on and off telephone/cell phone alert to man a shelter since Friday. The shelter was a moving target - down in the head waters of the Guadalupe River below Gilroy and then in Oakland (land slide shelter).

Meanwhile the kids had to evacuate - rising waters (on the Peninsula) - Channel 5 showed the floods between Oregon Expressway - Embarcadero Rd - and University Ave in PA. It looked like Oregon Expressway was flooded under the Caltrain Tracks and Alma, same thing for Embarcadero--> which is where they live. Back home - no damage.

[cally]

50. I'm so glad you are safe!

I live not far from you so send me a PM if you need help or supplies. I was lucky and had no flooding. All my best and I'm praying for the many who were harmed by this storm. :hug:

[nicknameless]

51. So good to hear from you.

Terribly sorry to hear about your losses. I had never before read of that level of flooding in Marin. I can't remember how that area fared in 1982.

I also highly recommend ozone for killing off mold spores. I bought my "Living Air" generator on eBay at a fraction of its retail cost. (Only downside: No warranty)

Hang in there. Warm-safe-and-dry wishes to you.

Namaste

[Spazito]

53. I am so relieved to see you post again, we were all getting

worried when we didn't hear from you for so long. I am sorry to hear you have flood damage but glad to know you and the Pachamama family are all safe.

[Pachamama]

54. Hi Spazito! Sorry to have worried you all...

I didn't mean to worry my DU compadres, but when the power went out all over the town of Ross, there was no means or way to connect via wireless routers from where I was (or anywhere for that matter) and it turns out cable hi-speed access for some reason wasn't working either.

Yes, the damage is bad, although not as devastating as it could be. The most important thing is that we were safe. Meanwhile, as I sit here trying to read the "insurance agreement" and "flood insurance policy", I'm getting more and more depressed...It has so many "exclusions" and conditions that one starts to really wonder why one even pays for insurance. For example, our entire landscaping-destroyed and we just spent a ton on it after having had construction on our property. Insurance won't pay a penny for that. They also exclude Fences (which are damaged and down), they exclude buildings that aren't part of the main dwelling (so our now destroyed shed isn't covered), they won't cover (get this) anything that was outside in our yard and not in the house that was damaged (ie. all lawn furnishings and even a bike that was outside), and the big thing that blew me away, is they won't cover any personal property that was inside the dwelling (ie. our basement) that was picked up by the flood and carried away. So, basically, they will cover our furnace, washer/dryer, water heater and duct work to be replaced - after a $5000 deductible. The coverage doesn't cover any charges that we incur for needing to live elsewhere if our house is uninhabitable for any period of time or reimburse us expenses. Yes, I get all this grand coverage (in other words in the end, probably about a value of $3000 to be reimbursed to me( for which I paid $1600) and I will probably be out of pocket of about $50,000+. That doesn't include our annual homeowners insurance policy which I spend $2400 on and seems to cover nothing for me in the event of flood. So, if you add the math up, I paid them $4000 for annual insurance including flood, and after their "reimbursement" it will have cost me $1000 to them so I can put out $50K+ in expenses....And then I scratch my head and ask why even bother to be insured.

Thanks to you (and all my other Duers) who have been so sweet and concerned over me and my family through this. It really means a lot. :hug:

[Spazito]

57. Wow, Pachamama, that really stinks re your insurance coverage

It sure seems it has more exceptions than what is covered. I, too, have found my home insurance didn't cover some things I thought it did but it isn't as lacking as what you have posted. Keep your chin up, you and your family will get through this!

:hug:

[realFedUp]

30. Have we heard from La Conchita?

People who expect insurance or Fed monies should not
get them in certain predictably weather averse areas of the country IMO.

[NancyG]

32. Federal flood insurance is required here in Monte Rio (N CA)

for those in the flood plain. They should get money or not be required to pay insurance. That's what insurance is, pay in and maybe get some back if bad luck. If I think 40% of house damaged, people get $30k to raise the house a story up, so won't happen next time.

Where in the country are there NO weather problems?

[Cleita]

34. I so agree. I really would like to cancel insurance in this country

for everything except maybe for luxury items like diamonds and yachts. I think the government should have disaster insurance available for the ordinary working person as well as health insurance and the things we can't help happening. All that money to destroy a country in the Middle East could be used here for our citizens.

[Cleita]

33. If anything happened at La Conchita, we'll have it on

the local news at 11:00 as we get a Santa Barbara local channel up here. Sorry I didn't see the local evening news because the satellite was out of commission and just popped back on. I will post if there is anything about it then.

[stubtoe]

58. Hi Cleita, still doing OK down there?

We've got plenty rain up here too in OR - just not as bad as CA. Weird, isn't it?

[Pachamama]

35. PACHAMAMA FINALLY CHECKING IN!

Hello my friends!

First of all, I apologize about not checking in sooner....shortly after my last posting on Saturday morning as my family and I were refugees at a private school up the hill from our house, as I thought things were going well, the power went down. I didn't have much battery power in my laptop and I wanted to conserve it. Since there was no power anywhere in our neighborhood the last few days the last few days, there were obviously no wireless routers and internet connections available either....

Power is finally on and I'm able to report in...We went down to the house that morning to survey the damage...the water on our street had flooded the entire area at about 4+ feet...houses in our neighborhood were flooded in the 1st floors of houses and completely destroyed. We were "lucky"...Our house is somewhat elevated and the flood waters went into our basement, completely destroyed it and all our personal belongings, pantry, emergency supplies!!, water heater, washer/dryer, furnace, ducts etc down there...the water then rose up and, stopped at 1/4 inch below our floor boards to our first floor living area...

I guess the prayers of all my Duers and friends out there were received....we narrowly escaped more disaster....Meanwhile, the house is inhabitable...there is no heat or hot water and the creek that flooded our house is contaminated with dead animals (I saw a dead deer floating and even a bunny rabbit that was probably some poor child's pet) and dirty diapers floating that weren't ours (yuck). We have a clean up service coming tommorrow and we have de-humidifiers running non-stop right now to prevent mold and mildew from the moisture under the floors in the basement. We'd be willing to live in a house without hot water and heat and use space heaters, but the water restoration experts and the industrial hygienist we hired says that there is ecoli and other contaminants in the mud/water/silt in our basement and around the house and if we were to run space heaters to keep warm, it can encourage the growth of mold and mildew.

Meanwhile, we are staying at a friend's house and they have small kids our kids can play with. The hardest thing is we are trying to have some normalcy for the kids in this stressful time. I can deal with the stress, but I don't think they know how. My daughter's school in Ross was flooded, so school is not starting tommorrow and has been canceled all week.

I'm going to check out for now and check in tonite after the Pachababies are asleep and answer more questions and check in with you all and others that have been going through this devastation in California and ofcourse all my fellow DUers who have suffered and have been suffering through Katrina still. I feel that I am blessed and even though this is an awful situation, I cannot and will not even begin to compare it to the devastation and suffering that was endured by our Gulf Coast Bro's and Sisters.

Namaste and Thanks to all of you who have been sending your well wishes and thoughts to me and my family! I believe in the power of prayer and thought, and I think that you helped protect my family and home. Thank you :hug:

[annabanana]

38. Wow It's good to hear from you!

We've been wondering how you've faired. I'm so glad that the water stopped where it did. Have you found your four-footed friends?

[EFerrari]

40. Thanks so much for checking in. n/t

[babylonsister]

43. Hey, sfexpat2000, how about where you live; you're in

Northern CA, right? I hope all is well with you and yours.

[EFerrari]

46. It's ironic. We're in the tsunami zone in San Francisco and

no trouble at all here, tg.

Thanks for asking!

[babylonsister]

41. Great to hear from you! That's a lot of

damage:-(:. Thanks for your firsthand account, and once you figure out up from down, if there's anything I/we can help you with, please ask.

[xultar]

42. I'm glad your family is safe. I'm sorry to hear your basment was flooded

and things were ruined. But you have your family and that is what counts.

[madeline_con]

44. I wondered what was going on!

I'm glad you got out safely. Be very careful about going back with the potential mold, etc. It can be really dangerous.

I know it may seem insurmountable now, But you WILL slowly get back on your feet. I think kids are more resilient than we give them credit for sometimes. They'll take their cue from you, and handle it fine.

Namaste, and stay safe and healthy. That's what counts. :hug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

45. I'm so glad to hear from you! I'm so sorry for your loss.

:( I hope things get better for you very soon. It must be so hard on you all and especially on the pachababies. If you need anything...just holler/pm me!:hug:

on edit...in case of mold and mildew, you may consider an OZONE machine, but ONLY if you, your husband and the kids aren't in the house. It kills mold spores and works wonders on mildew and odors, but YOU CANNOT BE IN THE HOUSE WHEN IT'S RUNNING. :hi:

[librechik]

48. kick

[REP]

55. Power Back on in MTV/Sunnyvale

Had outages throughout the night; very inconvenient as I use respiratory equipment to sleep!

[nicknameless]

56. That sounds awful.

I hope you're okay. :(