Parts of North Bay still flooded following recent storm
GUERNEVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- North Bay residents are dealing with the aftermath of a powerful storm that blew through the Bay Area, which caused several schools to close and roads to flood.
Floodwater surrounded homes and filled up nearby vineyards in Sonoma County after recent Bay Area storms.
There's also a large landslide just north of the river near the community of Rio Nido.
When the sun finally emerged in the North Bay. Highway 37 is now Lake 37, the victim of a broken levee on private property taken over by nature in all iterations large and small.
Caltrans announced Friday it will remain closed until February 24, the largest problem in a region brimming with them.
In Sausalito, it was minor stuff - a landslide and tree across a set of steps. Up north, in Guerneville, the last of Thursday's downpour pushed the Russian River to 34 feet around 1 p.m. Friday.
It was an impressive sight at Johnson's Beach, certainly, but downtown was hardly a threat to this generation or the next.
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Locals know that in wet winters, the real threat comes from Fife Creek, which feeds the Russian River and backs up during storms.
On Friday, crews reinforced a section of Laughlin Road, used by school buses, where Fife washed away the soil beneath.
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"The river was not the issue. It's Fife Creek that got me again," homeowner Karen Devan said.
Fife Creek still has residents on Church Street up to their knees in water, praying for it to recede. This is the trouble spot in Guerneville.
"Yeah, and we get another storm in seven or eight days. It's relentless," Guerneville resident George Martinelli said.
In Guerneville, such problems come with the turf, even when water covers it. They just take it in stride, stroke by stroke.
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