Heavy rain floods part of downtown Healdsburg

HEALDSBURG, Calif. (KGO) -- The heavy rain flooded part of downtown Healdsburg in Sonoma County on Thursday morning. That's about a foot and a half of standing water covering a half block area. And while some streets are drying out, down by the river it could get worse as more rain makes its way downstream.

The water was fast and ferocious. Police ended up shutting down a park near the Russian River for the first time in a decade because they didn't want anybody to end up getting washed away.

There were no boats on the water, but we found something unusual up the street.

"Air mattress, it's not so great," said Kara Groom.

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Groom and her little brother say the floatation is just fine.

"We didn't really have any oars on hand unfortunately, I don't own a boat," she said. "So the whole oar situation was a little iffy. So we're using our hands, and I think I have frostbite."

But if you do own a boat, Healdsburg has a brand new lake in the Safeway parking lot.

"We have kayaks at home so we decided hey let's go kayaking," said one resident.

It was as perfect for boats as it is treacherous for cars. Some vehicles were found parked near the store with floodwaters up to the windows.

And you might not want to swim in the water because things float when it floods, and that includes sewage.

The other thing you don't want to do in standing water is drive. It's extremely dangerous. Driving through standing water it's the most common way to drown during a flood. So if you see water, turn around and stay safe out there.

PHOTOS: Severe storm hits the Bay Area