LIVE UPDATES: Atmospheric river causing flooding, damage across Bay Area

Another heavy-duty storm means emergency crews, again, are standing by for more potential problems.

Just last week, the storm conditions in Sonoma County claimed the lives of two people, caused landslides and led to several water rescues.

Another heavy-duty storm means emergency crews, again, are standing by for more potential problems.

Heavy downpours are drenching the region again.

Downtown Sebastopol was hit hard by sheets of rain Thursday afternoon.

That meant ponding water on roads and a reason for drivers to hold onto that steering wheel a lot tighter. This was how things looked on Highway 116 in Forestville.

Authorities remind drivers again and again--if you see "flooded" signs or "road closed" signs, don't go around them.
Don't do what one pick-up driver did on Green Valley Road on this Wednesday. The water went over the hub caps right up to the bumper. The driver stalled for a bit, but then managed to keep on going.

"We can't emphasize enough how dangerous it is. We have had people die in these storms," said Cyndi Foreman, Sonoma County Fire District division chief. "Last week was pretty crazy for us. We ended up having 10 or 11 swift water rescues. Our crews ended up going into the water for crews that drove in."

The drenching rain, the thunderstorms, the strong gusty winds are reasons why emergency crews have staffed up even more than normal.

Authorities are worried more trees could come crashing down. And they're worried about the possibility of more landslides.

"The sheriff's department and police department does have a number of evacuation warnings in place and Sonoma County has red-tagged a couple of homes," said Paul Lowenthal with Santa Rosa Fire District.

During the major storm last week, because of a massive landslide in the Deer Trail area of Rincon Valley, mud slammed into the side of a home.

Just yesterday, a drone captured a photo showing another big risk authorities are closely monitoring.

"There has been some additional land movement in that area. There was a new fissure that developed adjacent to the original slide. The city of Santa Rosa has been in communication with the property owner," Lowenthal said.

Here's another reason why not to go around a "road closed" sign: Sonoma County Fire District says if CHP comes out, you will get a fine for driving around "road closed" and "flooding" signs and you will get 2 points on your record.

Strong wind and heavy rain were hitting along the San Mateo County coast Thursday.

Strong wind and heavy rain were hitting along the San Mateo County coast Thursday.

In Half Moon Bay, city officials say they've been preparing for the storm all week.

"Monitoring our waterways, cleaning debris and brush out of our storm drains and streets, responding to tree limbs down from the wind," said Half Moon Bay Spokesperson Colleen Lettire.

That wind was the primary concern for PG&E.

"Wind can cause otherwise healthy trees to uproot. It can break branches and have them fall into our lines. Debris flies through the air and can make contact with power lines," said the utility's Tamar Sarkissian.

The wind's strength was on full display earlier in the day when a tree was knocked over in a residential area. The tree shut down part of the street as crews worked to quickly remove it.

PG&E says it pre-positioned crews up and down the San Mateo County coast in preparation for Thursday's storm.

"Especially in areas like Half Moon Bay, it may take a little time to get equipment there from other parts of the Peninsula. So, that's why we like to pre-position and be ready," Sarkissian said.

Further north at the Pacifica Pier, some young fishermen were determined not to let the bad weather ruin their day.

"We kind of actually planned to already. We weren't going to let the weather stop us. We just decided that the fish were biting, it's nice and shady, so pretty good weather to go fishing," said Gabriel Licurse.

But while they might have been enjoying the stormy weather, others were not.

That included Andi Ley who just moved to the Bay Area from Hawaii and said she was missing the tropical state.

"Yes, absoluteIy. It never got below, like, 65. So this is definitely different," Ley said.

And if she wasn't enjoying the stormy weather, her dog might have been even more disappointed.

"He's more of a in the sun, at the beach kind of dog, but we're making it work," Ley said.

Evacuation warnings have gone out for parts of Salinas, Prunedale and areas along the Carmel River, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office said Thursday afternoon.

Effective immediately, residents in zone C045-B are under an evacuation order due to flooding risks. This affects areas along Santa Rita Creek in Bolsa Knolls, Salinas, the Sheriff's Office said.

Residents of Prunedale in zone C040-B along Ralph Lane are also under an evacuation warning due to potential flooding.

Finally, residents along the Carmel River near Camp Steffani and Wawona roads as well as Lower Paso Hondo near Carmel Valley are under an evacuation warning. These are zones D057-C and D066-B.

Residents should be prepared to evacuate if the warning is upgraded to an order. Anyone who may need extra time getting out of the area is advised to evacuate as soon as possible as a precaution.

People can find out if they are in an area under an evacuation warning at https://protect.genasys.com/search.

With substantial rainfall overnight and throughout today, the San Lorenzo River rose quickly, prompting evacuation warnings from Santa Cruz County.

Rain fell about as fast and as hard as the San Lorenzo River was flowing Thursday.

Neighbors in Felton Grove got word from the county early in the morning that they were in an evacuation zone after waters rose several feet overnight. River Road was completely flooded in 2023 when storms overwhelmed the river.

And the community was ready to avoid getting caught in flood waters this time.

Across the Covered Bridge, evacuating was not as simple. Covered Bridge Equestrian Owner Tamara Boole was keeping an eye on water levels as well as the horses stabled here throughout the storm. Some of these stables back right up to the San Lorenzo. Evacuation plans are ready if needed, but Boole is hoping it doesn't get to that point.

"When you move them to different circumstances, you're taking them into things where they could call out and get nervous," Boole said. "Some don't handle the situations very well, so it's the last thing we really want to do."

The community has been through this before, and they're confident that they can make it through again.