Yes, it is still raining up here. I checked the rain gauge early this morning and it read 5-1/4 inches. That's a lotta rain! We've gotten slightly more than 6-1/3 inches since Monday night. The creek is holding up well, draining out the water very fast, and the water is up to the base of the fallen tree. In the picture downstairs (in a previous post), you can see there was plenty of space between the tree and the water line.
The mountains are saturated! The flood watch and voluntary evacuation order on the San Lorenzo River down in Felton has been lifted. Currently, Highway 9 is closed with a mud/tree/wires slide down in Ben Lomond. That leaves me only 2 ways out of the valley - Bear Creek Road east up to the ridge and then down to Highway 17 at Lexington and/or north on 9 up and over the mountain and down into Saratoga.
Whoops, Just checked the CHP web page and sure enough, Bear Creek is closed with a mudslide of trees and poles and 9 also has a mudslide on the Saratoga side of the hill. Good thing I am hunkered down for the day since all 3 ways out of here are closed.
I'm waiting for the power and/or cable to go out again. With the hills this wet, the ground is moving all over the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast. Today's rain does not appear to be as heavy as yesterday's, but the day is still young. If there is a break in the weather while typing this post, I'll run outside and try to get a good picture to post.
I've gotten fairly used to the power outages. Have a transistor radio, flashlights, candles, battery powered lanterns, lots of stockpiled batteries, a gas range and a wood stove. I can stay toasty warm with candles, and have lots of canned goods in the pantry. I stay out of the fridge as much as possible to keep the food there cold. Cell phones with car chargers are a necessity up here since the phone lines are taken down with the power and cable when the trees fall.
UPDATE: It stopped raining long enough to grab this two shots off my deck. The second is a close up of the first. The whitewater you see just in front of the tree is where the water is rushing up from under the tree.
Good Morning Suz. I hate to think all roads out of your place are blocked but I'm happy you have enough supplies. Are you anywhere near the "levees" that Arnold says are breaking? Rain, rain - go away for a while. H&K
ReplyDeleteHey, Joanie. I'm 13 miles from the Coast along the Monterey Bay. The levees are in the San Francisco River Delta, the the rivers in the San Joaquin Valley - the Sacramento and San Joaquin being the two largest rivers. They are two ranges away from me if you are looking at a map of California.
ReplyDeleteHey Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteSpoke with you briefly at FDL. Hope you are staying dry. Great looking doggies, hope you are all safe.
I spent some time out in your neck of the woods back in the 90's when I was in the Navy at Alameda NAS.Man, I sure miss Cali. Those were some good times.
Hope all is well.
Talk to you soon.
Tony
Tony:
ReplyDeleteAll FDL's are welcome here. Come back and visit. I remember the "ole days" at Alameda NAS, with the signs for those needing rides. A sailor in uniform always got a ride from out, even when it was out of our way.