LOS ANGELES — Heavy rain is drenching the west from southern California to Seattle. Freeway overpasses became urban waterfalls as the massive Pacific storm dumped a month’s worth of rain on San Francisco in just a day and a half.
Flooded roads caused rush hour gridlock downtown San Francisco, Friday was the second rainiest day since the Gold Rush in 1849. The Giants game was rained out for the first time in more than a decade.
In Sacramento, rainwater ripped out a retaining wall right next to Sue Calicutt’s home.
“Well it looked pretty sturdy, at least I thought it was,” Calicutt said.
Others are worried local waterways could overflow.
Pedestrians shield themselves from the rain with umbrellas Friday, April 6, 2018, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A fierce Northern California storm Friday shut down Yosemite National Park, threatened mudslides in wildfire-ravaged wine country and could present the first test of a partially repaired offshoot of the nation’s tallest dam that nearly collapsed last year.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP
“The creeks are overgrown with debris and brush and it’s just creating a flood hazard,” said Dave Douglass.
Rangers shut down Yosemite National Park and cleared out campgrounds near flooded areas, fearing a repeat of the 1997 floods that tore through the Valley. Now they’re waiting and watching.
“We get to Sunday morning, based upon the impacts, if they’re minimal, or there’s not a lot, then we’ll reopen,” said Yosemite National Park ranger Scott Gediman.
As rain melts the snowpack in the Sierras above Reno, emergency crews are preparing. The Truckee River is expected rise a foot above flood stage on Saturday.
There’s been so much rain, that most reservoirs in northern California are now full. But state water managers are still encouraging people to conserve because parts of southern California are still in a severe drought.
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