Atmospheric river: Death toll rises to 14; Lightning rumbles through San Francisco, East Bay
SAN FRANCISCO --An active jet stream continued to be an atmospheric river expressway, slamming yet another weather front into the Bay Area early Tuesday with damaging winds, lightning strikes, tornado warnings and intense downpours.
Tuesday's system was embedded with potent storm cells carrying pea-sized hail, lightning and thunder. A cell that moved over San Francisco and the East Bay around noon triggered 5-10 lightning strikes every 5 minutes.
The death toll from the storms that began last week climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people including a homeless person were killed by falling trees, state officials said.
The brunt of the latest storm rolled into the region around 2 a.m. Tuesday, toppling trees, knocking out power lines and triggering a tornado warnings in Calaveras County, Sacramento and Modesto.
Power outages were reported across the South Bay and an apartment complex in South San Francisco was damaged by high winds and a lightning strike.
"To me it sounded like a car crash," an apartment dweller told KPIX. "It was really, really loud. So I got up and peeked out of the window. The wind was really, really heavy."
Ten residents were forced out of their damaged apartments.
PG&E reported at 9 a.m. that 52,911 of its 93,743 local outages were in the South Bay.
"The next storm system moved through during the overnight hours into the first part of the morning," the National Weather Service said. "In this case, scattered thunderstorms can be expected in accompaniment, along with strong, gusty winds. Showers with possible thunderstorms and even small hail will then continue through the day, tapering off Tuesday evening and overnight."
The two-week deluge has dumped 12.27 inches of rain in San Francisco -- the wettest 15-day period stretch since 1867. A Flood Watch remained in effect for the Bay Area until Tuesday afternoon.
In the Watsonville and Hollister area, flood waters drove local residents from their homes and flowed onto Highway 101, shutting down the freeway for hours.
Rick Wilkinson's family ranch in Hollister was under an evacuation warning and they decided it was time to head out when the back of their property began to flood.
"It's been hell getting over here, we almost did this a few nights ago, but when we bought the property, we raised our levees up around us, another 16 inches so we're way above everybody us but we'd never thought it would come in from the back side of us," he said.
Floodwaters also inundated the Santa Cruz Mountain community of Felton, flooding a neighborhood near the overflowing San Lorenzo River.
Christine Patracuola, the owner of Rocky's Cafe for 25 years, handed out free coffee to customers whose homes lacked power Monday. Her staff couldn't come in because of closed roads, including a bridge over the San Lorenzo.
"A little coffee can't hurt anybody," she said. "You can't really change Mother Nature; you just have to roll with the punches and hope you don't get swept up into it."
Nicole Martin, third-generation owner of the Fern River Resort in Felton, said Monday that her clients sipped coffee, sat on cabin porches amid towering redwood trees, and were "enjoying the show" as picnic tables and other debris floated down the swollen San Lorenzo.
The river is usually about 60 feet below the cabins, Martin said, but it crept up to 12 feet from the cabins. Still, Martin said she wasn't worried — her family has owned the property for about 60 years, and her grandfather checked out conditions Monday and shrugged it off.
The resort prepared by getting about 8,000 pounds of sandbags, readying generators, and handing out lanterns to guests who opted to weather the storm in their cabins.
Officials said the river crested at 24.52 feet at 7:45 a.m. near the Felton Grove neighborhood, trapping several residents who ignored the pre-dawn evacuation order delivered over loudspeakers by sheriffs deputies.
Meanwhile, Pescadero residents have been without electricity for days. They're also dealing with the worst flooding since heavy downpours and storms began on New Year's Eve.
The Pescadero Creek overflowed its banks Monday quickly flooding the main part of town. Rising water inundated and flooded streets, homes, and businesses.
"This is the worst it's been," Hillary Goldschlager said. "We've been here 10 years. The creeks are three times the size they normally are and we have swift water flowing,"
Residents without generators desperate to power up cell phones and get help found rest at a nearby evacuation center. For Noah, the flooding translated to no work and a day's wages lost.
"The roads were flooded so I couldn't get to work. It was tough. There's no power. It sucks," said Noah.
KPIX reporters Betty Yu and Kenny Choi contributed to this report
