SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 News is already seeing storm damage across the San Francisco Bay Area due to a dangerous atmospheric river moving through the region.
Here’s a look at where there are reports of downed powerlines, landslide threats and toppled trees due to a Level 3 storm on the exclusive ABC7 Storm Impact Scale:
LIVE UPDATES: Newsom issues State of Emergency for CA to help with storm response
East Bay
Residents of 15 homes in Richmond voluntarily evacuated Tuesday night and Wednesday after the hillside above the Seacliff development began showing signs of mudslides.
Mayor Tom Butt said in his e-forum newsletter Wednesday that arrangements were made for residents without places to go to stay in an Emeryville hotel. Butt said Seacliff Drive was closed between Seacliff Way and Canal Boulevard, while Seaview Drive and Seacliff Way from Seacliff Drive to Admiralty Way were also closed.
Butt said a geologist was on site Wednesday morning, as well as a local contractor working on mitigating the damage.
Richmond Police Sgt. Donald Patchin said there’s no estimate as to when people can get back to their homes.
“It’s just a waiting game right now, with this atmospheric river coming in over the next few days,” Patchin said.
San Ramon police wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning that Crow Canyon Road is closed in both directions west of city limits toward Castro Valley due to a threat of landslides.
There is limited access for residents only, police said late Wednesday morning.
Police said the road was closed by the Alameda County Public Works Agency due to debris and unsafe road conditions.
In El Cerrito, large tree came down at around 5:30 p.m. The homeowner told us she has no electricity and PG&E won’t be able to reconnected that power until the tree is cleaned up.
Another tree came down on a home in Richmond. A homeowner was inside, she is okay but tree actually pierced through the roof and came into her son’s bedroom.
Around 6 p.m., a tree came down along the Richmond Parkway. Traffic in both directions was blocked but tree crews were able to pull the tree to the side and open traffic a couple hours later.
City officials in Oakland have joined numerous municipalities around the Bay Area in declaring a local state of emergency Wednesday due to the winter storm still pummeling the region.
The emergency declaration allows the city to call in any and all staff to respond to emergency conditions as they occur overnight. The city’s public works, transportation, fire and police departments have all staffed up to manage increased service needs, according to the announcement.
The fire department’s crisis responders have been working with unhoused residents to inform them of shelter options and coordinating transportation for those who need it. In addition, the Ira Jinkins Center — at 9175 Edes Ave. near the Coliseum — will be providing three free meals on Thursday as well as providing emergency shelter to all ages and families.
The city’s year-round shelter at St. Vincent de Paul, located at 675 23rd Street in West Oakland, has doubled their bed capacity to serve the homeless through Friday morning enabling them to shelter up to 100 people.
For residents who need a temporary refuge from the wet weather, or for those experiencing a power outage, all 18 public library locations are open and have power. Thursday hours are 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and the main library is open until 8 p.m.
For the latest information on Oakland’s winter storm updates, see oaklandca.gov/topics/winter-storms.
North Bay
Sonoma County officials are concerned about potential flooding as this storm intensifies, issuing an evacuation warning for any residents living near the Russian River floodway between Healdsburg to Jenner.
This comes as power has been out for most of Guerneville since Wednesday night.
“We’re going to get hit, I haven’t seen this since 2019,” Karen Devan, a Guerneville resident said.
Just shy of four years ago, most of Guerneville was underwater the last time the Russian River flooded back in February 2019.
It was so serious, there was no way in or out of the city except by watercraft.
LIVE: Track rain in San Francisco Bay Area with Live Doppler 7
Karen Devan, her partner and their dog Fergus not taking any chances, after living through the last flood.
“Safeway will flood, drugstores will close, basic necessities will close down and the fire department will be awfully busy doing rescues, so you’re kind of on your own to figure it out,” she said.
Deciding to book a hotel for the next two nights in Santa Rosa after losing power Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, businesses bracing for history to repeat itself, lining sandbags across their front doors and closing up shop to get out of dodge.
San Francisco
Yellow caution tape near Chrissy Field’s warming hut in San Francisco didn’t stop some people from crossing to get a better look at waves crashing into the shore near the Golden Gate Bridge. Some minor flooding carried debris, including rocks, sticks and garbage into a path normally accessible by pedestrians.
As rain came down Thursday afternoon the Marina was mostly quiet with light traffic and just a few people outside. The East Beach at Chrissy Beach, a spot typically popular for dogs and their owners even on a weekday, was fairly desolate. Waves wiped out much of the beach with water coming farther up than it typically does.
San Francisco Public Works crews were out all night to clear downed trees, drain flooded intersections and clear blocked walkways after Wednesday’s billowing winds and drenching rainfall.
A spokesperson from the city’s emergency operations center said Thursday that there has been 445 incidents of fallen trees and branches around San Francisco in the last week, with 286 of those being reported in the last 24 hours.
Crews have worked continuously to clear storm-related threats to the public, like sink holes, downed power lines, flooded areas and blocked passageways.
Emergency operations officials remind residents that sandbags are still available at the Public Works’ operations yard at Kansas and Marin streets until 8 p.m., or until supplies runs out. Each household or storefront can receive five sandbags
On Wednesday, ABC7 News reporter Lyanne Melendez said glass was falling from two broken windows at the Fox Plaza Building, forcing the closure of a part of Market and Polk.
RELATED: More than 76K customers without power, PG&E says
South Bay
After 17,000 customers were without power early Wednesday morning, PG&E restored energy to much of the San Jose area. Still, dozens of stoplights were out throughout the downtown area for much of the day indicating outages throughout.
The rain wasn’t much of the cause of the issues, but the wind certainly was. In fact, the wind knocked a large tree branch down, ripping power lines down with it. Neighbors described it sounded like an earthquake when the branch fell. Thankfully no injuries were reported and San Jose Fire and PG&E cleared the area quickly.
RELATED: More than 25K customers without power, PG&E says
The Santa Cruz County coastline has taken a serious beating from the most recent atmospheric river storm.
Tweets from the county’s official Twitter account show “significant damage” to Capitola and Seacliff piers.
The county announced Thursday morning that the coast was extraordinarily dangerous because of high tides and enormous waves.
People should avoid all bodies of water while coastal areas are under a flood warning by the National Weather Service until 4 p.m. Thursday.
Multiple road closures are also in effect throughout Santa Cruz County due to flooding.
Peninsula
After the heavy rain caused Belmont creek to overflow last weekend, Belmont officials have closed multiple city streets as a preventative measure ahead of the worse part of the storm. Business owners in the area say they as ready as they can be.
San Mateo County Public Works Department has used 275 tons of sand and over 18,000 sandbags so far Wednesday, but at this point there is shortage of both supplies. We’ve seen people bringing their garbage bags hoping that can help them prevent flooding to their property.
Bay City News Service has contributed to this article.
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