Water Rescue Teams Prepare For Homeless Rescues With Rising River Levels

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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Sacramento River in Downtown is forecast to rise nine feet in the next day, and there is concern that homeless people living along the shoreline will be stranded.

The county has already closed Discovery Park, and water rescue crews are making sure their boats are ready to respond.

Carlos' Camp now has a waterfront view as river levels rise along the American River Parkway. He is one of the hundreds of homeless people being warned by park rangers to pack up and move to higher ground.

In past years Sacramento City fire crews have had to use boats to reach people trapped by rising water levels and they say many of these rescue calls come at night when conditions are dark and dangerous.

"It's not like going to a street address where we pull up to your front door, their front door could be hundreds of yards deep into the thicket of the trees," said Sacramento City Fire Battalion Chief Jim Edmiston. "So, if we're hitting park signs or whatnot, they can tear a hole in our boat."

The river access points at Howe and Watt Avenues are also closed indefinitely until water levels recede.