Atmospheric river: Flooding strikes Solano; 275-year-old oak tree falls in Napa County
SOLANO COUNTY – In Solano County, people weathered Monday morning's storm amid threats of flooding. But it was in Napa County that one local winery lost a beloved icon.
The rain ended before 10 a.m. in Solano County, but the water kept coming. In Fairfield it turned a creek running under Beck Avenue into a roaring river of what looked like chocolate milk.
Alfredo Perez had a hard time imagining how much water was actually rushing past him.
"I don't know. It's like, I've never seen something like this in this area of Fairfield," he told KPIX. "I've been through storms and everything, and I've seen flooding water, but this is like, like never. Like, I've never seen it."
The water was just a few scant inches from cresting the creek's banks, which had Don Mills keeping a wary eye on the situation.
Mills remembered the storm in 2006 when the river backed up at the bridge on Beck Avenue, sending waist-deep flooding into his neighborhood. But, despite that, Don said he actually welcomed all the rain.
"I'm glad to have it. Because four years and not much rain, you know?" he said. "I want all the lakes full. I want Lake Berryessa full."
Up the highway in Vacaville, Alamo Creek jumped its banks in the early morning hours, sending water into the Southwood neighborhood.
Officials issued an evacuation warning for a large area near the creek, but most people stayed put and when the rains stopped, the water quickly receded.
"I moved my car up closer to the garage just to make sure, but we thought we'd wait it out," said homeowner Cindy Pymm. "I'm more worried about tonight because there's more storms coming."
While Solano suffered a threat, in Napa County there was a huge loss.
A 275-year-old oak tree in front of the V. Sattui winery in Saint Helena was uprooted in the early morning hours. The massive tree had become a symbol of the winery's strength and longevity and thousands of people picnicked and attended events under its shady branches.
Tom Davies, the winery's president, said everyone at the winery was heartbroken by the loss.
"It has withstood the test of time," Davies said, sadly "And maybe it's these kinds of trees that anchor us to what is really important and anchor us to the land. And you just hate to see something like this go".
Davies said they considered the tree part of the family and over the years have spent more than $100,000 to keep it healthy. The tree was so important to the winery that they employed the same arborist for 40 years to look after it.
After all the natural disasters that Napa has survived, Davies said they tend to think that anything can be rebuilt. But the tree is something that cannot be replaced so easily.
"These oaks share the land with us, and we know it's finite. And maybe that's what hurts the most, is that you think something like this is just going to last forever," he said. "It's just sad that we were here to see it go. I wish it had been another 100 years from now."