Creeks turn into rivers in Fairfax

FAIRFAX, Calif. (KGO) -- Some creeks in Marin County looked like rivers Thursday night and some streets look like creeks. In Fairfax just before 11 p.m. there was a new report of a tree down on Shadow Creek Court.

That's where an 80 to 90-foot oak tree crashed down onto the roof of a house. ABC7 News learned the homeowner was home with his dog at the time and said it sounded like an earthquake. He and the dog are OK.

The homeowner will have people come out with a big crane on Friday to lift and remove the tree. Most damage is to the outside of the house.

In the North Bay, homeowner Scott Hurd showed us his invention to combat flooding permanently. His home at Wood Lane and Porteous Avenue in Fairfax is directly in the line of fire, since flood waters will form a path aiming straight for his front door. He created holes for plastic piping so that he could place wooded boards a couple feet high, secured by sandbags.

"If we didn't have this [invention] here, than that stream would go all the way through our yard and just tear everything up," said Hurd.

Cars, meanwhile, are treading lightly though the current.

In a Mill Valley neighborhood, a rising Sycamore Creek prompted the Marin County Office of Emergency Services put out an emergency robo-call to people who live along the water. The creek did reach flood stage Thursday afternoon.

Mill Valley's city manager and vice mayor were among those who came to check it out. They were confident the banks would hold.

"We've put out a lot of preparation for this, several days in advance. We warned everyone and told them what to look for and I think we were spared the brunt of the storm," Mill Valley Vice Mayor Garry Lion said.

Lesley Delone's home backs up to the creek in Mill Valley. She said, "Not even the ducks are out."

Delone and her husband have lived here for more than 30 years and they've experienced worse than this. She told ABC7 News, "The street has been under water before. At the other end you could take a boat out, but not today. Today we've been lucky."

Still, they're not counting on luck. They've put sandbags around the garage just in case the creek does overflow.

Two teenage boys decided to go rafting which is a dangerous idea, since there's no way to know what's in or under the murky floodwaters.