SAN FRANCISCO — Evacuations were ordered in Northern California on Monday and flash-flood warnings were issued elsewhere as downpours swelled creeks and rivers to potentially dangerous levels in the already soggy region.
A levee break along the San Joaquin River prompted an evacuation order for about 500 people living in mainly ranch and farmlands near Manteca, San Joaquin County authorities said.
The gap was filled and the leak halted Monday night but the evacuations and a flash flood warning remained in effect into Tuesday morning.
Crews worked on Monday night to patch the breach, which followed an earlier warning that the river was approaching the top of levees and could remain at that level for four days.
“When the water gets that high and more water is coming, there is just too much pressure and levees can break,” said Tim Daly, a spokesman with the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.
In Monterey County, people living along a section of the Carmel River were told to leave, as were those in a neighborhood of Salinas near Santa Rita Creek and a few people in rural Royal Oaks, where a mudslide encroached on a home.
In Lake County, northwest of Sacramento, about 100 homes in two mobile home parks and nearby streets were ordered evacuated because nearby Clear Lake was a foot above flood stage, county Sheriff Brian Martin said.
More homes could be placed under evacuation order along the 75-mile shoreline as the water slowly rises, Martin said.
“It’s very serious,” he said Monday night of the potential for flooding in an area that already has seen repeated downpours in recent weeks. “There’s going to be widespread property damage ... our ground’s been saturated.”
No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, about 2,000 people in the remote community of Spring Valley were blocked in because one of two entrance roads to the hamlet washed away and mudslides closed the other, Martin said.
“Our deputies are basically hiking in and hiking out,” Martin said.
Authorities hope to use a temporary bridge to reopen it in the next few days.
In Monterey County, the Sheriff’s Office sent rugged Humvees out to help with the evacuations.
The Carmel River, which has flooded several times in the past month, was expected to rise to nearly 11 feet by Tuesday, which would be a moderate flood stage, while the Salinas River near Spreckels could reach nearly to the moderate flood stage of 26 feet by Tuesday night, which could inundate the Monterey-Salinas Highway, the Monterey Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2kSYbU1).
The Big Sur River reached its moderate flood stage of 10 feet Monday morning and was expected to crest at 12 feet, the paper reported. — AP
