CA: Weakened dam threatens 100 homes in Calaveras County

AP on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/5/06 | Juliana Barbassa - ap

[NormsRevenge]

About 100 homes were being evacuated Wednesday morning as a small earthen dam in Calaveras County weakened by an overnight thunderstorm threatened to break.

Showers and thunderstorms dumped up to four inches of rain over the past 24 hours around the La Contenta golf course near Valley Springs, said Angus Barkhuff, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

A 12-foot-high dam at the golf course was weakened by the storms and crews from the Calaveras County Sheriff's Department began evacuating nearby homes threatened by the dam overnight.

If the dam fails, water will drain into a smaller pond that will likely overflow, Barkhuff said. From there, water would drain into the Calaveras River, according to the weather service.

The golf course is located in the Sierra foothills and is surrounded by a semi-residential area of ranch homes and horse properties, Barkhuff said.

The weather service issued a flash flood warning for the area that is expected to stay in effect until noon Wednesday.

On Tuesday, two levee breaks in the Central Valley forced evacuations from residential neighborhoods and inundated farmland.

Levees and dams were tested throughout the region as record-breaking rains continued to pound Northern California, forcing some residents from homes near San Francisco because of the threat of landslides. More rain was forecast for Wednesday and meteorologists predicted it would continue into mid-April.

"The bad news is rain stays in the forecast basically until further notice," said Ryan Walbrun, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service's Monterey office. The weather service was holding regular conference calls with state disaster-management officials in preparation for possible additional evacuations.

Floodwaters breached a 30-foot section of levee along a creek in Merced, sending up to 18 inches of water pouring through a mobile home park, said Michael Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources. There were no reports of injuries.

"I got a sweater, a top, a pair of pants - only what I had on my back," said Cora Ramirez, who was trapped in her house by rising water and had to be carried out by firefighters. She waited out the flooding at an American Red Cross shelter.

"You see these things in the paper, but you never think it'll happen to you," said Ramirez, who uses a wheelchair.

About 200 people from three trailer parks were evacuated, said Elaine Post, spokeswoman for the Merced County Office of Emergency Services.

The floodwaters also swelled into a nearby residential neighborhood, peaking at about two feet, then receding and leaving a grimy ring of debris on homes.

Mario Ortega carried out his elderly parents' belongings into a waiting pickup truck, wading through water that covered their front lawn. "How long will they have to put up with this? It's frustrating to see them in this situation," Ortega said.

At the Golden Wheel trailer park near Merced, floodwaters crept up to doorways. Barbara Cabezut said she awoke to a knock, and found a sheriff's deputy waiting.

"I looked out the door and said 'God, we're flooded,'" Cabezut said as she waited at the Red Cross shelter for the waters to recede. The elderly woman waded through deep water to get to the deputy's truck.

South of Sacramento, a Consumnes River levee east of Highway 99 gave way, swamping fields but posing no threat to homes. A levee in the same area broke in January during heavy storms.

With no end in sight for the rains, the levee breaks heightened anxieties here about this region's fragile levee system.

In Washington, D.C., a key Senate spending committee approved $22 million for high-priority levee repair projects on the California Delta. That is a tiny fraction of the $6 billion Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought earlier this year.

"I think it just shows, again, how important it is for us to concentrate on repairing and fixing our levees," Schwarzenegger said Tuesday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the money as part of an emergency spending bill for hurricane recovery and military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sits on the committee.

The House version of the legislation does not include the levee money, so even if the full Senate passes the measure, the two houses would have to reach a compromise.

Sacramento had 5.29 inches of rain in March - 2.49 inches more than average, according to the National Weather Service. Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, San Rafael and Santa Rosa all broke rainy-day records last month.

Reservoir operators released water from a variety of dams to make way for the rainwater.

In Broadmoor, south of San Francisco, a handful of residents left their homes after a voluntary evacuation order was issued when a hillside above their neighborhood threatened to give way.

And Highway 1 south of San Francisco was closed in three places, including at Devil's Slide, long prone to rockslides.

[Ozone34]

I don't think the jumping frogs will have a problem...

[NormsRevenge]

Workers spread black plastic and sand bags on levee break near the Modern Mobile Home Park in Merced, Calif., Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Two levees broke Tuesday in California's chief agricultural region, flooding the trailer park, threatening other homes in Merced and inundating farmland near Sacramento. (AP Photo/Al Golub)

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Traffic passes over a bridge on Highway 99 close to a levee break near Merced, Calif., Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Two levees broke Tuesday in California's chief agricultural region, flooding the trailer park, threatening other homes in Merced and inundating farmland near Sacramento. (AP Photo/Al Golub)

[NormsRevenge]

A Merced County Sheriff's Department truck patrols at a mobile home park Tuesday, April 4, 2006, in Merced, Calif., after two levees broke, flooding the trailer park and threatening other homes in Merced and inundating farmland south of Sacramento. (AP Photo/Al Golub)

[dangus]

I haven't seen that many frogs in that much water since New O--- (*gets tanked away by a stage hook...*)

[NormsRevenge]

NEXRAD Radar - San Joaquin Valley

FRom North of FResno to South of Bakersfield, current storm activity.

[Utah Binger]

Where is Bush? Where is Ahnold? Not enough minorities in the Gold Country?

[NormsRevenge]

Storm pounds Inland region
Riverside Press-Enterprise
08:19 AM PDT on Wednesday, April 5, 2006
http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webwx1_06.63832d4.html

[MadeInAmerica]

Where is Bush? Where is Ahnold? Not enough minorities in the Gold Country?
__________________________________________________

Nope, not the issue. They figure most of the residents have already proven they can swim. That's how they got there in the first place.

[keat]

Nope, not the issue. They figure most of the residents have already proven they can swim. That's how they got there in the first place.

Damn.

[Vaquero]

"Hey I'm here....I'm 'Celebrated' and I like the rain.

[Utah Binger]

I wonder when Orca the expert swimmer from Mass. will weigh in.

[spintreebob]

Yes, interesting that in New Orleans, it is rarely noted that the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in the path of Katrina did what common sense dictated. They did not wait for some politician to tell them what to do. A full week ahead of the storm, they saw on Telemundo and Univision the National Weather Service predicting the certainty of the flooding of New Orleans. They took the advice of the NWS and got out of dodge.

This is a good trait of the illegal aliens. They don't wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to tell them what to do.

[NormsRevenge]

KATHLEEN TURLEY - Staff / Oakland Tribune

LAS POSITAS GOLF COURSE in Livermore was underwater Tuesday afternoon as a creek overflowed its banks, but for the most part, the East Bay has managed to escape the brunt of storm damage.

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Illegals and hackers to be most impacted as they will not be able to work or play today.

Lift and place is in effect today.. if ya can find the fairway. ;-)

[MadeInAmerica]

This is a good trait of the illegal aliens. They don't wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to tell them what to do.
_____________________________________________________

I just wish most Americans were as bright sometimes.

[NormsRevenge]

speaking of FRogs .. this guy was stranded for 4 days.

Cut off by floods, man survives on frogs (Reuters-Czechoslovakia)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1609546/posts