As new storm looms, North Bay family unable to return to storm-damaged home
A family in Marin County still can't return to their home due to damage from storms that rolled through last week. Now, another atmospheric river storm is set to bring even more rain.
"We are facing the Marinwood Preserve behind our house," explained Dara Sherafat. "It's typically very beautiful. It's a little scary now."
For Sherafat, the gorgeous hillside behind his home delivered a nightmare during last week's rain.
"The water came from here and got stuck right here in the culvert," he told CBS News Bay Area. "Called 911 and we have the fire department here. Everyone came, but they couldn't get it unplugged."
The rain dragged on for another day, and when more debris came downhill, the water surged.
"Oh my God," Sherafat recalled. "There's a flood coming. I grabbed my wife and my son to bring them to the front of the house. And it just, like a moat, covered our entire house from both sides. And it was literally just like two rivers around our property just gushing through the driveway."
And in what he calls their dream home, his family is living with the aftermath.
"This is my son's room," he said. "He's five. His name is Cameron. This was all carpeted as well. Removed all the walls."
"Six or seven guys, two wheelbarrows," Dara Sherafat said of the mopping up. "About seven or eight buckets. In about six hours worth, just on that day."
Family and friends have helped start the cleanup process, pulling about two feet of mud out of the backyard and the swimming pool that Dara built with his own hands. But that's not his main concern right now.
"And there's been so much debris you can see there's the wood cut down a tree, branches and animal remains all over," Sherafat said.
The water is gone but much of the debris that washed downhill is still sitting here.
Sherafat said it's more than he can move on his own, and he's worried that the next storm could send it all right back into the drain.
"With another atmospheric river, this is all just going to crumble right back into the drain and tomorrow you know we're going to be facing something similar," Sherafat feared.
The land behind the home belongs falls in the Marinwood Service District. A spokesperson told CBS News Bay Area said the district is aware of the situation, and will be monitoring the drain during the coming rain.
