The latest round of storms have left flooded roads that have stranded hundreds in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with flood advisories in effect for several Bay Area counties, and a flooded I-580 in Oakland was taken over by a paddling of ducks.
It’s another Pineapple Express day today, and even if it’s not raining where you are right now, there’s a high likelihood that ongoing road flooding will affect your Bay Area travels. Just Friday morning, President Biden approved another presidential state of emergency declaration for much of California, right now 511 SFBay lists almost two dozen road closures or traffic alerts in the Bay Area, and you can expect BART delays of about 20 minutes regardless of your destination.
This is not a pond. This is I-580 westbound. Roads closed since 9p last night, likely staying closed until Noon today. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/0qgbAGSomP
— James Torrez (@JamesTorrezNews) March 10, 2023
But to start this weather calamity roundup on a light note, flooded portions on I-580 were taken over by ducks Friday morning. “We have ducks on the water on the flood here on the westbound side of the highway,” KTVU’s James Torrez reported. Though as of 11:45 a.m. Friday morning, KGO had the update that “All lanes on Interstate 580 in Oakland have reopened after shutting down Friday morning due to flooding, Caltrans said."
Westbound I-580 in Oakland remains closed Friday morning after flooding from the storm shut down the highway, causing major traffic issues. Latest updates: https://t.co/92ooafLem3 pic.twitter.com/0kxU0ZsW0T
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) March 10, 2023
But things are nowhere near resolved down in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as the Chronicle reports that hundreds of people can’t leave their neighborhoods because as seen below, the roads in Soquel have literally been broken by the floods. An estimated five inches of rain fell in that area Thursday night, and several neighborhoods in or near Santa Cruz were evacuated last night. Reports from on the ground there say that "Houses on county water are also without water. Power on for now.”
This isn’t good. Part of the community of Soquel in Santa Cruz County is cut off because Bates Creek washed out North Main Street in the storm #flooding pic.twitter.com/zSUbPEUkXx
— Kurtis Alexander (@kurtisalexander) March 10, 2023
Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties both remain on flood advisories until 2:30 p.m. Up to the north, Sonoma County is on a flood advisory until 2 p.m.
Napa County details a number of road closures above, the most severe being Duhig Road. Caltrans reports that State Route 121 is “Closed in Sonoma County from Fremont Drive just north of State Route 116/Arnold Drive.”
All of these hazard symbols represent a flood (95%), trees down or mud slides. Stay off the roads if you can #SonomaCounty. Monitor conditions here: https://t.co/nnEYKXf7Lv#CAwx pic.twitter.com/6VebohlwoK
— Sarah Stierch 🔥💁🏻♀️ 🌻 (@Sarah_Stierch) March 10, 2023
And if you think this means it’s a great weekend to head skiing in Lake Tahoe, it’s not. Heavenly, Kirkwood, Mount Rose, Northstar, Palisades Tahoe, and Sugar Bowl Resorts are all closed today.
Image: @CHPDublin via Twitter
