River levels are on the rise, more rain in the forecast
MODESTO -- Residents within a Stanislaus County evacuation warning zone in Modesto who live along the Tuolumne River are watching the flood stage numbers closely as another atmospheric river is set to drop water on already high river levels.
As of the 3:30 p.m. check of levels on Monday afternoon, as reported by the National Weather Service (NWS), the Tuolumne River was at 52.13 feet and flood stage is at 55 feet. It's the inches of water neighbor Roger Hite said he's watching closely.
He lives in the Riverdale neighborhood that includes parts of Hatch Road, Riverdale Avenue, Parkdale Drive, Woodlane Avenue, Greenlawn Avenue, Avondale Avenue, S. Rosemore Avenue, Vivan Road, Poland Road, and Paradise Road along the Tuolumne River.
Hite lives only a few feet from the river and said he can't evacuate because he doesn't have access to a truck that is equipped to move his trailer. Instead, he said, he monitors the river levels hourly and has sandbags around his property.
Looking at the data from the NWS, he told CBS13: "Keep this below 55 or 56 feet… keep it under that." In other words: he can handle one or two feet of water above flood stage, but not any more than that.
In another part of the neighborhood, Hite's neighbor said she could drive her trailer out if water levels and flooding became an imminent concern. However, at this time, she said she did not have plans to evacuate and was stocked up on necessities.
"When the water gets high, it gets pretty high, I just know that. I just know that it does, we'll have to evacuate. I'm ready for it but I'm not too worried about it." said Sherri Bejarano, a Modesto resident.
The Mokelumne River at Benson's Ferry, as of 3:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon, was at 12.4 feet and flood stage is at 17 feet.
A Galt resident on her way through the area told CBS13 she stopped at the confluence of the Cosumnes and Mokelumne Rivers to take photos and videos, she hadn't seen it this full, she said, in 18 years.
With the water levels come warnings for residents in vulnerable areas to stay alert. FEMA urged Californians Monday, who live in areas that are vulnerable to flooding. to pay attention to local authorities for information and instructions. FEMA's message: "if told to evacuate, do so."
Two FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams are on the ground supporting the California Emergency Operations Center and managing the incident support base for staging supplies.