Flooding creek in Pittsburg forces early morning evacuations, water rescue

ByLena Howland KGO logo

Monday, January 16, 2023

Flooding creek in Pittsburg forces early morning evacuations

People in 19 homes and four apartment units were asked to leave because of the rising waters, and crews even had to rescue a driver in floodwaters.

PITTSBURG, Calif. (KGO) -- Overnight, dozens of residents in Pittsburg had to evacuate because of the floodwaters.

The flooding is coming from Kirker Creek, which Pittsburg police say crested again overnight, forcing evacuations just after 1 a.m.

This came after a culvert responsible for keeping water out of the road broke on Saturday from the pressure of too much water.

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"On Wednesday morning, a sinkhole appeared over this pipe, so we believe from photos that we've seen and evaluations of the facility, that the top of the pipe has failed and soil from above has partially filled this storm drain line," John Samuelson, the Antioch Director of Public said.

People in 19 homes along the creek and four units in the Fox Creek Apartments on Harbor Street were asked to leave because of the rising waters.

The fire department's swift water rescue team was called in and boated 12 residents out of the neighborhood.

The driver of one car that tried to drive through floodwaters also had to be rescued.

"The fire department decided that they needed to go door to door and tell them that water is rising to a point where we would recommend they evacuate, so we knocked on 19 doors on Ventura and on Harbor and asked them to evacuate if they would and a handful of them did," Lt. James Terry of the Pittsburg Police Department said.

Police say even when it's not raining, that's when they've seen some of the biggest rises in the Kirker Creek, all because of the runoff.

Because of the culvert being knocked out and the creek still cresting, police are not expecting to reopen Harbor Street and Stoneman Avenue anytime soon.

City officials say that staff will be on hand for the next day and are asking people to stay away from the area. If you see standing water, do not drive through it, because you never know how deep it is.