King tides bring major flooding to Greenbrae

King tides bring major flooding to Marin County

Friday's extensive and long-lasting king tide flooding of low-lying Greenbrae in Marin County came as quite a surprise. 

GREENBRAE, Calif. - Friday's extensive and long-lasting king tide flooding of low-lying Greenbrae in Marin County came as quite a surprise. 

For a community used to and prepared for most flooding events, this one appeared to catch some off guard.

What they're saying:

"It's bad. I guarantee you my garage does not look like this," said designer Julie Jay, whose garage office was churned by several feet of water for hours on end Friday. "We only flood on a king tide when there's a lot of rain; you've got a storm surge. Usually the tide, even when it's something this big, it usually recedes within 45 minutes, but it took three-and-a-half hours for it to recede from my driveway today."

The Greenbrae community, along the Marin shoreline, was surprised when the weather suddenly changed a flood watch into a flood warning. 

The perfect combination of king tides, intense rains and winds caused widespread flooding, with more to come.

"We have forecast high tides once again, plus that added combination of storms. So, I think flooding is very likely," said Marin County Public Information Officer Laine Hendricks. "The national weather service did upgrade it's advisory to a warning because they are predicting the height, the tidal levels, higher than they've seen in many, many years."

Local perspective:

Water swamped and disabled one couple's car. 

"The windows won't stop rolling up and down, and it just smells like burned wiring and stuff like that," said Brittany Ray of San Rafael. 

"I've been around here for the king tides and I've never seen it this high. Never," said Jeremy Hager, also of San Rafael.

Though house sitter Roone Silberman decided to check it out, his dog wanted no part of walking or treading water, and sat on Silberman's shoulder like a parrot.

"It was pretty bad last year. This is probably the worst I've seen it. I guess '95, it was even worse," said Silberman.

Young Greenbrae resident Emily Drake said the tides were worse this year around. 

"It happens every time this time of year. But, it's the highest I've ever seen it," Drake said. "Luckily, my house is on stilts. Climate change is really worrisome and sea levels are rising quite rapidly. So, I am very concerned."

Some long-time residents say many years ago there were higher tides. 

Former tug boat captain Shane Smith, now a producer of overboard shipboard life rescue systems sold worldwide, has his business in the flood zone. He said he and his neighbors have learned to deal with occasional floods. 

"If you're a water person, you love it, you live with it. It's the way it goes. It's like having a boat and saying 'I didn't know it was going to be rough out here.' It just is what it is," Smith said.