North Bay battles storm aftermath ahead of more rain

(KTVU) - For much of the day Friday, North Bay storm cleanup and waiting for things to stabilize played against each other. With far less rain falling, the amount of water flowing down hill was far less than we saw Thursday at the site of the home collapses in Sausalito. 

But it was clear water, not the dark chocolate brown erosion runoff we saw yesterday. Only a few journalists and sightseers were there and almost all of the roadblocks and barricades gone. Normally, after a situation like this, you'd expect to see crews here doing all kinds of clean up and restoration. 

The problem here is, the rains are still coming and this situation is already incredibly unstable only to be made more unstable by more rains. This is no time to have people in here risking their lives.

One woman who rents out her century old home, just across the street from the slide, came to check on it and her tenants who were physically unharmed.

"Except my tenant had his car buried by the slide coming down and crashing into that other house that got destroyed," said Alexandra Liebster. 

Twenty-five miles north, westbound Highway 37, between Highway 101 and Vallejo, remains closed due to flooding as of 6 p.m. Eastbound is open. 

The road became flooded Thursday when a levee broke. But late Friday afternoon, as the water was receding, additional runoff and tides brought the water back up almost half a foot. Coincidentally, that flooding does take its toll on the road's pavement condition moving forward.

That levee break left railroad tracks, still needed for freight, suspended in mid-air. Friday survey crews were looking at how to repair the damage to these leveed tracks. At the same time, the Marin Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District, air boated county flood control and Caltrans officials into the inundated area to see where pumps could be placed to remove the water once levee repairs are made. 

But, for many Bay Area folks, all of this, though inconvenient, is nonetheless expected and acceptable. "I think it's just part of living here." said Liebster. But, she said that the rewards of living here outweigh that, “Oh my gosh, absolutely. It's such a wonderful place."