Clean up in Sonoma County continues, more storms coming

Clean up continues in Sonoma County as more storms approach

Friday brought a much-needed break in the rain for Sonoma County communities including Santa Rosa. The soil where areas saw slides remain soaked.

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. - Clean-up in Sonoma County continues, but residents are keenly aware of another storm that could hit next week. Friday was a much-needed break in the rain after the area was pounded by rain and saw slides one day earlier.

Earlier in the day, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office identified the two storm-related death victims as John Radecke, 61, of Calistoga, who was found in a culvert on Franz Valley Road and Frank Robinson, 81, of Sebastopol who drowned while biking in West Santa Rosa.

Once again, the saturated soil in the slide areas is trying to dry out. The earth is still creeping and doesn't need any more rain.

Brenda Hays lives higher up and on top of the slope that failed below, knowing exactly what's on tap for her. "Looking at my own property and properties around me; looking for fissures in the ground and making sure we're all looking out for each other," said Hays.

In Guerneville a lot of clean-up is underway. Example: Pee Wee Golf and Arcade. "Pinball machines are toast, the pool table's not going to be worth anything. These are the flood levels over the years. We're only up here, so it's not too bad," said Tim Bosque, the Pee Wee Golf & Arcade manager.

The River Bend Resort trailer park knows flooding all too well. "I guess for some people it's just a fact of life. It's a river, it floods if you want to be here," said Guerneville resident Liam Brayton.

"We've had two years prior to this where we've had significant rainfall, atmospheric rivers, bomb cyclones. Those kind of events for the last two years have really impacted our county. So we go from catastrophic wildfires for years in a row, to sort of catastrophic storm events and the compounding effects. We're just seeing that now," said Division Chief Cyndi Foreman of the Sonoma County Fire Protection District.

Near the town of Sonoma, where Highway 121 meets Highway 12, branches, logs and trees after this major intersection flooded have stacked up against fences, carried by overflowing Sonoma Creek. The fact that this is unsightly is one thing, but that's not an important reason. What’s really important, when this stuff dries out, and a spark happens, it could set off a bonfire that could lead to a wildfire.

Pacific Gas & Electric is making sure the power poles sitting in heavily saturated soils are stable and able to take more flooding and not topple over. "

PG&E is doing extra patrols, taking a look at our equipment; make sure everything is stable and running properly because we know that that ground saturation and erosion can be a problem," said Megan McFarland, PG&E’s North Bay spokesperson.

But, for now, people who live at the top, on the side or at the bottom of hills have to be concerned about what more water may bring.

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