California’s rain breaks all-time records
Northern California saw record rainfall Sunday from an atmospheric river storm system.
Downtown Sacramento reported a record-high 24-hour rainfall totaling 5.44 inches, surpassing a mark set in 1880, announced officials early Monday.
Rain began to subside in the region at daylight, after knocking the area the day before. A night of relentless rain knocked down trees and flooded streets. Sunday night, many roads in downtown Sacramento were inches deep in the water, backing up traffic, leaving cars unsafe passing through water that reached halfway up their tires.
Rivers overflowed near the U.S. River, where many homeless camps are located, prompting officials to open emergency shelters.
Blue Canyon in Placer County received 10.4 inches, beating its previous record of 1964.
And in the Bay Area, the 4.02-inch rain that fell on Sunday marked the wettest October day ever in downtown San Francisco and the city fourth wettest day in history.
About 125,000 residents across the state – from the Bay Area to Sacramento and Lake Tahoe and down to San Luis Obispo – were without power Monday morning, according to PG&E.
The current was out on Bay Bridge around noon. 7 – hours after video circulated of large rigs on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge being blown over by the storm.
In some areas, the rain turned to snow, creating dangerous conditions that caused several major roads to close and pass over the state, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Along the Bay Area Peninsula Monday morning, crews and homeowners tended to knock down branches in the streets, leafy gutters and overturned basketball hoops.
Large puddles of water formed at some roads and intersections. A 6-inch deep pool of standing water made driving particularly nervous on the corner of El Camino and Valparaiso Avenue in Menlo Park.
Up in the Santa Cruz mountains, however, the first respondents felt relieved.
“We avoided a bullet,” said Chief Mark Bingham of the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District. Evacuation orders had been in place over the weekend due to the risk of waste streams and floods.
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