"We're on the river so we know when it gets to a certain level, get out," resident Judy Seavers said.
The county issued a mandatory evacuation order about 10:30 Wednesday morning and sounded the community's warning system.
"The siren went of about and I guess that's supposed to be a 20 minute warning and it wasn't 20 minutes, maybe more like 15 or 10," resident Hugh Haiker said.
Felton firefighters and Santa Cruz County sheriff deputies went door to door to encourage people to leave, although not everyone did.
"They have the right to stay in their own house, we're not going to get in a fist fight with somebody forcing them to leave their house, but bad things can happen, the weather and the river are very unpredictable in the valley," Sgt. Greg Lansdowne said.
The San Lorenzo River was strong and moving fast but by mid-afternoon it appeared the worst of the flooding was over. The river waters receded, the evacuation order was lifted and damage appears to be minimal.
"I really thought it would be in the house a lot more and it so far it seems pretty good," resident Erin O'Shaughnessy said.
The about 200 people who call Felton Grove home know living near the San Lorenzo River sometimes means living with the river.
"I'm used to it; we lived here since '96, so I mean it's not the first time, won't be the last," resident Kevin Seavers said.
