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Jan. 1, 2023Updated: Jan. 1, 2023 2:45 p.m.
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Authorities temporarily closed Highway 101 connected the Peninsula owed to flooding successful the historical rainfall storm.
Adam Pardee, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle
Clear skies implicit a Bay Area that was mopping up connected Sunday revealed the standard of harm from near-record rainfall that deed San Francisco peculiarly hard. The deluge near ongoing hazards crossed the region, and residents of Wilton successful the Sacramento Valley were told to structure successful spot successful the look of wide flooding that sprawled from a levee breach.
From Wine Country to the Central Valley, the tempest brought flooded homes and businesses, mudslides and closed freeways, evacuations and rescues. Many motorists who ventured retired onto the roads drove done patches of lasting water, with immoderate getting stuck and forced to wantonness their ruined vehicles. Thousands successful the Bay Area remained without powerfulness connected Sunday.
At slightest 1 idiosyncratic died: At Lighthouse Field State Beach successful Santa Cruz, a histrion fell connected a 72-year-old unfortunate aboriginal Saturday afternoon, authorities said. The idiosyncratic was not instantly identified.
The National Weather Service reported Sunday that astir streams and creeks had crested were dilatory receding, but galore remained supra flood stage.
In the Sacramento Valley, a levee was breached successful 3 places successful agrarian Wilton, 15 minutes southbound of Sacramento connected I-5. The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services advised Wilton’s 5,000 oregon truthful residents to structure successful spot with floodwaters rising successful Consumnes River. Highway 99 was closed successful some directions Sunday.
“We had a batch of radical who abandoned their vehicles, Matt Robinson, spokesperson for the Office of Emergency Services, said Sunday. “There are rescue missions going connected close now.”
Under a agleam prima successful San Francisco, washing machines and refrigerators were stacked connected the sidewalk wherever Jose Gomez sat Sunday successful a pickup motortruck extracurricular his family's appliance shop, King’s Refrigeration, connected 16th Street,
“The h2o was up to my knees,” Gomez said, describing however his begetter called him to the store precocious Saturday morning, erstwhile the ruthless tempest had brought astir 3 feet of rainwater into the shop, and refrigerators began floating down the sidewalk.
A household prepared for rainfall walks on the Embarcadero successful San Francisco, Calif. connected Saturday, December 31, 2022.
Adam Pardee, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle“We had to pursuit aft them,” Gomez said.
Storm drains were clogged and h2o had pooled connected the roads from Folsom to Treat Street, Gomez said.
In the Mission, store manager Holt Manchester astatine Gus’s Community Market recounted the hours of continuous Saturday mopping arsenic passing cars had sent waves of rainwater flowing onto floors of the marketplace and done doorways of different businesses. Manchester said helium had disquieted astir getting electrocuted utilizing the store’s currency registers.
“We were squeegeeing the h2o retired and it was coming close backmost in,” helium said. Manchester besides sopped h2o from his adjacent flat building’s entrance, but towels and sandbags did small to support it out.
“The Muni buses coming down 17th Street were causing waves that were halfway up the doors to each the businesses, helium said. “Children could person surfed these waves. I was up to my precocious thighs successful water,” helium said.
Elsewhere successful the Bay Area, rising waters were reported spilling implicit the banks of San Francisquito Creek with flooding successful the Palo Alto and Menlo Creek area, including successful low-lying East Palo Alto.
Many country roads remained closed owed to flooding, with unsafe conditions that prompted officials to pass residents not to thrust astir barricades owed to h2o flowing deeper and faster than it appeared.
PG&E reported Sunday that astir 15,000 Bay Area residents were without powerfulness owed to tempest activity. Half of these were successful the East Bay, with 7,000 outages but the South Bay had 3,400 outages and the Peninsula 2,600. In San Francisco, 849 customers were without power.
In the Tahoe region, I-80 was reported unfastened again connected Sunday with concatenation restrictions, pursuing Saturday nighttime closure owed to dense snows. Caltrans warned motorists that “roads are highly slick” and cautioned motorists to thrust dilatory truthful the roadworthy tin enactment open. Caltrans, the CHP and tow operators spent New Year’s Eve pulling dozens of stranded vehicles from the snow.
Tahoe-area skis resorts connected Sunday greeting reported snowfall of up to 35 inches implicit the erstwhile 24 hours. Palisades Tahoe and Kirkwood some reported that immoderate lifts were closed, with windy conditions connected the mountains.
In San Mateo County, Highway 84 remained closed successful aggregate locations Sunday morning, the region sheriff’s bureau said. Among different roads inactive closed wasNiles Canyon Road adjacent Mission Boulevard, a cardinal way betwixt Fremont and Sunol successful the East Bay. Officials did not supply an estimation for re-opening the road.
Highway 101 adjacent South San Francisco had reopened by Sunday, aft dense flooding unopen it down Saturday, and Highway 92 successful Half Moon Bay besides was reopened.
If Sunday’s interruption successful the upwind offered a respite, it was to beryllium short-lived. The National Weather Service forecast airy rains Monday and Tuesday earlier the accomplishment of an adjacent stronger atmospheric stream connected Wednesday.
The play storm, attributed to an atmospheric river that plowed implicit the region, astir broke San Francisco’s one-day precipitation record. The National Weather Service reported the 2nd wettest time successful much than 170 years of record-keeping — conscionable 8 hundredths of an inch shy of the all-time people of 5.54 inches acceptable successful 1994.
Oakland recorded its wettest time connected grounds since 1970, with 4.75 inches of rain, beating retired the erstwhile grounds acceptable successful 1982. It was the 3rd wettest time connected grounds for Redwood City going backmost to 1906, and beating retired a erstwhile grounds acceptable successful 1962.
But determination volition beryllium dense enactment up for galore residents and concern owners swamped by flood waters. In San Francisco, owners of restaurants, gyms and market stores were sweeping up and assessing the damage.
The Wooden Nickel barroom successful the Mission District was among the inundated. Instagram posts showed a idiosyncratic wading done h2o up to their knees. Another idiosyncratic sloshed done a furniture of h2o that seeped into the bar’s backroom. It besides appeared that a parklet adjacent the barroom had been swept distant by the surging water.
In Alameda County, sheriff’s deputies said they rescued 19 older adults from a semipermanent attraction installation successful Castro Valley that seemingly flooded.
Attractions closed connected Saturday, too, including Muir Woods, the Point Bonita Lighthouse, Tennessee Valley Beach and the Golden Gate Bridge place astatine the precocious extremity of Conzelman Road. Officials said they were responding to reports of flooding and downed trees astatine the Marin County sites. Alcatraz closed arsenic well.
Southern portions of Sonoma County, from Forest Hills down to Petaluma, appeared to person immoderate of the astir flooding successful the North Bay, with respective creeks overflowing.
Sam Whiting and Nora Mishanec are San Francisco Chronicle unit writers. swhiting@sfchronicle.com, Nora.Mishanec@sfchronicle.com
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