N. California Braces for New Onslaught : Weather: Up to six inches of rain is forecast in some places, but residents and officials hope flooding will not recur.

Northern Californians awaited renewed rains Friday but held out hope that they will not produce new flooding in hundreds of homes and businesses that have barely had time to assess the damage from the last round of punishing storms.

Forecasters were predicting as much as six inches of rain through tonight in some areas north of San Francisco, with perhaps three inches falling in the Sacramento Valley. The storm is expected to hit Southern California later today but produce less rainfall--one to two inches--in most areas with little threat of substantial flooding.

“The good thing is that the storms appear to have more spacing between them, allowing the water to subside before we get hit again,” said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “But we’re not out of the woods yet.”

The Russian River in Sonoma County, the source of some of the state’s worst flooding, was inching its way back toward flood stage Friday. Forecasters, however, said it is unlikely the river will return to the level reached earlier this week, when it crested at 16 feet above flood stage.

North of San Francisco in Guerneville, where the river flooded much of the town last week, worried residents stocked up on food, water, beer and other supplies as they waited to see what the next deluge would bring.

While many of them worked to clean up the mess left by the floodwaters that receded Wednesday, they kept an eye on the rising river as rain poured down Friday afternoon.

“Some people are worried about it, especially people in the low-lying areas,” said Leslie Tait, owner of Perry’s Delicatessen, which reopened earlier this week. “We’re on flood watch again.”

In the Sacramento Valley, residents of creekside subdivisions were watching runoff from the Sierra foothills, but the major rivers remained well below flood stage and reservoirs were barely more than half full.

The American River near central Sacramento was measured at 29.8 feet--14 feet below flood stage, and it was expected to drop another foot by this morning.

The Sacramento River downtown was at 24.8 feet, more than six feet below flood stage. By noon today, it was expected to drop to 24 feet. But the heavy rains expected in Northern California today won’t be felt in the Sacramento River’s levels until at least Monday.

“It takes 2 1/2 days for water to get from Shasta Dam to Sacramento,” said Cindy Matthews, a hydrologist at the state-federal flood center in Sacramento. She said, however, that no new problems are expected in the valley.

“Everything is under control,” she said. “There is plenty of room in the reservoirs.”

The flood-control agencies opened several weirs along the Sacramento River on Thursday, allowing water to drain onto farmland between Sacramento and Davis, about 10 miles to the west. The state has agreements with farmers in that area allowing their land to be used for flood control.

Officials at the state Office of Emergency Services said they expect damage from the string of storms to easily surpass $300 million statewide. So far, 34 of the state’s 58 counties have been declared disaster areas by President Clinton.

In the northern part of the state, Pacific Gas & Electric crews worked to restore power to the last of 1.3 million customers who lost electricity during the storms. Fewer than 4,000 customers, mostly in isolated rural areas, remained without power Friday.

“We have more work crews responding to this series of storms than any in the past 25 years,” said Cory Warren, a spokesman for PG & E. “We hope to have everyone restored by (Saturday) evening, although there may be some isolated customers in rural areas that may take a little longer.”

The large number of power outages was due primarily to fallen trees or broken branches that severed power lines. High winds from this weekend’s storm were expected to leave thousands more without power Friday night and today.

Nearly a dozen state highways, mainly two-lane roads through rural areas, were closed for at least part of Friday. Among them: California 17, the main link between San Jose and Santa Cruz.

In Southern California, Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) predicted congestion problems for months on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

Hayden said it could take until June to complete a temporary four-lane bridge over Malibu Creek to replace one weakened in this week’s flooding. Until then, he said, traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction.

Sarah Maurice, a spokeswoman for the city of Malibu, urged residents to use common sense and avoid unnecessary trips along the highway while cleanup and reconstruction continue and until all threats of renewed flooding have passed.

“If you’re going shopping, why not pick up enough supplies to tide you over, in case . . . there’s another ‘Big One,’ ” she said.

In Ventura, an advisory to boil all drinking water was canceled after tests showed that the municipal water system was free of harmful bacteria.

Forecasters called for increasing cloudiness across the Southland this afternoon, with rain likely tonight and Sunday morning. The rain should taper off to intermittent showers Sunday night.

The snow level in the Southland will start at almost 9,000 feet.

Times staff writer Eric Malnic in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

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Disaster Areas

A total of 34 counties in California have been declared federal disaster areas. Residents are eligible for federal and state disaster assistance, such as temporary housing aid, grants, unemployment assistance and crisis counseling.

1) Del Norte 2) Humboldt 3) Trinity 4) Shasta 5) Lassen 6) Mendocino 7) Tehama 8) Plumas 9) Glenn 10) Butte 11) Yuba 12) Lake 13) Colusa 14) Sutter 15) Nevada 16) Placer 17) Sonoma 18) Napa 19) Yolo 20) Sacramento 21) Amador 22) Contra Costa 23) San Mateo 24) Santa Clara 25) Santa Cruz 26) Monterey 27) San Luis Obispo 28) Kern 29) San Bernardino 30) Santa Barbara 31) Ventura 32) Los Angeles 33) Orange 34) Riverside

FEMA Aid Line

(800) 462-9029 (800) 462-7585 (hearing impaired)

L.A. County Disaster Aid (800) 244-4766