New evacuations as storm brings California flood threat
ALPAUGH -- New evacuation orders were in place Sunday near two small central California towns where a levee was breached following recent downpours, as yet another winter storm brought the threat of major flooding.
The agricultural communities of Alpaugh and Allensworth, home to a total of about 1,400 people, were ordered to leave because of "the possibility of residents becoming isolated due to impassible roadways," the Tulare County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Deployed through the California Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System, the @CALFIRE_ButteCo swift water team rescued 14 residents across Cinnamon Creek in @CountyofTulare. So proud of the hard work of our partners! pic.twitter.com/1yQj4DWi8i
— California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (@Cal_OES) March 18, 2023
"Right now, Deputies are going door to door in Alpaugh urging people to evacuate and helping them get out," the Tulare Sheriff posted on Facebook. "The National Guard is also on hand helping to evacuate people with high water vehicles...The Sheriff's Office is using every resource possible to get people out safely and quickly."
A flash flood watch was issued for parts of the San Joaquin Valley in Tulare and Fresno counties, as well as for Sierra Nevada foothill areas, said the National Weather Service in Hanford.
Crews worked Saturday to repair a breached levee along Deer Creek just north of Allensworth, a historically Black town in southwestern Tulare County, Cal Fire spokesperson Jazz Shaw told the Fresno Bee.
Rain began Sunday as the first of two storms expected this week moved into California. After weeks of atmospheric rivers slamming into Northern California, triggering flooding and landslides, the jet stream has shifted the latest blast of subtropical moisture toward Southern and Central California.
"We will get rain on Tuesday," KPIX Meteorologist Darren Peck said of the Bay Area. "The majority of the rain will be south. Southern California will get significant rain out of this."
While hundreds remain evacuated in Monterey County, particularly in the flooded community of Pajaro, concerns were elevating for farms near Vernalis southeast of Tracy in the San Joaquin watershed.
The San Joaquin River was expected to exceed "danger stage" on Sunday at 29.5 feet.