New Storm Pelts Weary Northern California

Wind and driving rain pounded Northern California on the first day of spring Monday, and storm-weary residents closely watched rising water levels in lakes and rivers, fearing renewed flooding.

The new storm ended a three-day respite from last week’s rains, which caused widespread flooding and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

Forty-nine of California’s 58 counties have been declared disaster areas because of the severe weather, which disrupted the state’s highway network and inundated much of the nation’s richest farmland in the Salinas Valley.

Mountain travelers faced treacherous driving conditions with up to six feet of snow expected in the Sierra Nevada from the latest wave of Pacific storms, said Bob Benjamin of the National Weather Service. Two more fronts were trailing the latest storm and were expected to arrive later this week.

Bursts of heavy rain raised concerns--and water levels--at Clear Lake and on the Napa and Russian rivers, all scenes of serious flooding last week.

“People are definitely on their toes, keeping their eyes out,” said Helena Arneson, an assistant civil engineer for the Sonoma County Water Agency, which monitors the level of the Russian River.

Clear Lake was about 1 1/2 feet over flood stage and the new storm could add six inches, putting the lake at the level it reached Thursday when about 500 lakefront homes and businesses were flooded.

“If we get any more rain beyond (Monday), we could have more homes that will be affected by the flooding than have already been damaged,” said Judy Murray, spokeswoman for the Lake County Office of Emergency Services.

Nearly 3,000 homes line the rim of the lake, which has 110 miles of shoreline. About 80 people remain at two Red Cross shelters.

The Napa, Russian, Pajaro, Salinas and Carmel rivers were swelled by the renewed rain, but should stay within their banks, welcome news to thousands of people from Watsonville to San Jose to Guerneville still cleaning up muddied homes and businesses inundated by floods.

“I think the major rivers will see a slight increase in the amount of water . . . but not to the extent where we expect them to get anywhere near flood stage,” said Benjamin of the weather service.

Because of the rapid movement of the cold front, forecasters said any heavy precipitation associated with it should not last more than three or four hours at any one location.

The weather service added, however, that a prolonged wet spell with at least two storms was in the forecast for the week, so flooding could take place.

The northern Sacramento basin, the state’s main watershed, is close to registering its wettest March in history, officials said. The record for the month was in 1993 with 20.1 inches. Thus far during March, 17.4 inches of rain have been recorded.

The storm was also expected to unload a huge amount of snow in the Sierra Nevada.

At least $45 million will be available from the U.S. government to reduce the threat of property damage in state flood zones such as the Lower Russian River Valley.

The number of California flood victims seeking help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency this winter has passed 10,000 and applications are continuing to pour in, officials said.