Sebastopol fills with flood water, some now calling it 'Sebasto-pool'

SEBASTOPOL, Calif. (KGO) -- As the sun came up, the flood water went down in Sebastopol, but not enough to access many streets by anything beyond boats.

Officials said about 2,600 homes were impacted by the flood. They hope people in Guerneville can return home by Friday afternoon.

RELATED: North Bay residents dealing with aftermath of flooding

"Preparedness is a big thing," Captain Steve Thibodeau of the Sebastopol Fire Department said. "We knew this was coming."

Some business owners at The Barlow Community Market, a popular cooperatively owned grocery in Sebastopol, are asking why they weren't better protected.

"The flood gates should have been staged and ready to be put on all the buildings, but they weren't," Adam Parks, owner of the Victorian Farmstead Meat Company said. "That's a big frustration for everybody is, 'Why weren't they?'"

ABC7 News couldn't get a straight answer to Parks' question. However, shop owners at this point are just trying to roll with it. Since the food inside the market couldn't be sold, everything safe to eat was donated to a local food bank.

The water filling Morris Street in Sebastopol goes on for blocks. It has swallowed up mobile homes and much of the community center.

"There's just a number of activities for all citizens and just for this to happen, we're just trying to figure out what do we do next," Jill McLewis, the vice president of the community center's board of directors, said.

A chili dinner fundraiser has been planned for next Friday at 5 p.m. at the Community Church of Sebastopol to help the center.

VIDEO: Difference in water levels along Russian River in Guerneville from start of flooding to day after

We can't end this story without explaining the tenacious spirit of the community. ABC7 News caught the owner of Gerard's Paella pulling out his kayak to grab Paella pots from his warehouse.

His company catered an event in San Francisco on Thursday night.

"It's the opening of Off The Grid," Gerard Nebesky said. "So we have to do this because it's the first day of it."

If Nebesky works that hard just to get some pots, we can only imagine what he can do in the kitchen.