After heavy rains, flooding persists (with video)

A powerful storm that struck the area overnight has caused flooding, downed trees and power lines, and forced authorities to close roads and schools as they urged people to stay at home. The rains came around rush hour Wednesday night, in what officials say is the worst storm to hit the region in years, and moved steadily south throughout the county, wrecking Thursday morning’s commute for those who braved the roads. A National Weather Service’s flash flood warning was expected to be downgraded late Thursday, but officials warned hazardous conditions would continue throughout the evening and into Friday.

By mid afternoon, Petaluma officials were saying the worst of the storm seemed to be over for much of the region, but cautioned that localized flooding was possible throughout the city as high tide arrived, and spillover was likely from drainage run-off and cresting rivers and waterways.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service said as much as 9-10 inches of rain had fallen in the region by late afternoon and that a flash flood warning issued Wednesday would still be in effect until 4 p.m. when it would be downgraded to a flood advisory.

While there were 50 mph gusts reported along the coast overnight Wednesday, the high winds projected for this storm did not materialize. But rainfall, which was predicted to continue into Friday, might still be heavy at times.

“Many of us were predicting as much of a foot of rain and it looks like we’ll get there at least,” said Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the weather service. “We’re seeing some rivers rising significantly as well. There’s still at least a half-inch to one-inch of rain that should fall before the storm is over.”

Police reported road closures and flooding throughout the city of Petaluma Thursday, recommending that people stay off the roads if they did not have to be driving. PG&E said earlier Thursday there were about 600 customers without power among the 13,000 who suffered outages across Sonoma County.

“It’s hazardous out there right now and we expect it will be for at least the next several hours,” said Petaluma Police Lt. Danny Fish. “We’re asking that people don’t go out, unless it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t want to have to rescue anyone from standing water.”

As of noon Thursday, 630 customers throughout Petaluma were without power, according to PG&E but that number was down to 450 by 4 p.m. Most of those remaining without power are along rural Roblar Road west of Orchard Street, said company spokesperson Brittany McKannay.

“Most of what we’re seeing is vegetation contacting the lines,” she said. “We’ve had some poles go over and other wind-related outages.”

McKannay said PG&E hoped to restore power in the Roblar Road areas by 11 p.m. Thursday night. Customers could call PG&E at 1-800-PGE-5000 to report power outages but should report downed power lines to 911.

“Assume all lines are energized,” she said. “Stay away from them, please.”

Fish said there had been a number of collisions but there had been no major injuries reported by mid-morning. Scanner reports indicated some people were ignoring police barriers and getting caught in flooded areas.

One of the worst areas hit was Auto Center Drive where Industrial Avenue was closed due to flood waters that trapped people at some of the auto dealerships in that area. Industrial remained closed from Bob Benson Honda south to the Auto Center Drive area due to flooding. There were a few reports of raw sewage bubbling out onto First Street near the river.

Lakeville Highway was closed for much of the day at Browns Lane, Madison Street, Caulfied Lane and Frates Road. But by 2 p.m. flood waters had receded or been cleared in some areas and Lakeville Hwy from D Street to Highway101 was opened. Roads closed earlier, including Jefferson Street Telford, Stonehedge, Andover, Dorset, Kennsington and York had all been opened.

Still closed were Garfield Street and Appaloosa Creek Area, Dana Street at Webster Street and Payran Street at Caulfield. In addition, Cherry Street and Antone were flooded behind Galinda Court.

By evening, emergency officials had closed Petaluma Blvd North at Corona Road, Corona Road at Industrial Drive

Rainsville Road at Stony Point, the Old Redwood Highway off-ramp of Highway 101 south.

The intersection of Stony Point and Petaluma was completely closed and was expected to be closed for much of the rest of the day on Thursday. Parts of North McDowell Boulevard were under knee-high water, police said.

Earlier in the day as Stony Point was starting to flood near the Petaluma Boulevard intersection, officials warned residents of the Leisure Lake Mobile Home Park to consider evacuating. Petaluma Community Center at 320 N. McDowell Blvd. was to remain open until 10 p.m. for anyone affected by the flooding.

Fish said other roads may be impassable due to flooding and urged caution. An emergency operations center had been set up Wednesday at the Petaluma Police Department in anticipation of the storm and was activated early Thursday morning before shutting down at 5 p.m. City offices were open but many employees stayed home or were manning the emergency center but city staff said many employees were able to get to work by afternoon on Thursday. Schools were closed throughout the city although some parents expressed concern last night that the city school district waited until this morning to cancel classes. St. Vincent de Paul and Harvest Christian were among the schools that announced Wednesday night that they would be closed on Thursday.

Late Thursday, the Petaluma school district announced its schools would stay closed on Friday.

The Santa Rosa Junior College was open Thursday but issued an alert at10:30 a.m. that it would be canceling classes at all its campuses as of noon on Thursday. All campuses were to reopen on Friday, according to SRJC officials.

“We’ll continue to monitor the storm throughout the day,” Fish said. “It’s obviously not letting up so it’s likely there will be more flooding and closures throughout the day. That’s why we’re asking people to stay home unless it’s absolutely necessary for you to be out. It’s not safe.”

A list of road closures throughout the county can be accessed at roadconditions.sonoma-county.org.

(Contact Elizabeth M. Cosin at elizabeth.cosin@arguscourier.com)