Calif. Storm Damage Tops $100M

Homeowners shoveled away mud and other debris and authorities worked to repair damaged levees Monday after a pair of storms flooded Northern California's wine country.

The rain let up over the hard-hit region and moved into Central and Southern California, drenching the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time since 1955 and threatening mudslides on hills stripped bare by last summer's wildfires.

Initial estimates put the damage throughout Northern California at more than $100 million. The storms were blamed for two deaths, both of them victims of falling trees.

The Russian River at Guerneville began receding after cresting at 41 feet — 9 feet above flood stage — but officials said it would probably not return to its banks until Tuesday morning.

"When it goes down below its banks, that's when the real cleanup begins," Sonoma County spokesman Dan Levin said.

The rising waters there forced many to evacuate in the first hours of the New Year, reports CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales. Hundreds of homes were flooded in the scenic community, he said. Live power lines were down throughout the area, and residents were warned to stay away.

And Southern California is expecting four more inches of rain in the valleys, and up to eight in the mountain areas. There's also the potential for water spouts and small tornadoes, CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.

The Marin County town of San Anselmo, north of San Francisco, sustained an estimated $40 million in damage when a creek inundated downtown under 4 feet of water and left a coating of mud on streets. Around 50 businesses were damaged. About two miles west in Fairfax, three homes were nearly wiped out by mudslides.

Some small towns in Northern California were hit the hardest — Collinsville, for example, was evacuated after a levee was breached in the Sacramento River delta, Hughes reports.

One man told CBS News he evacuated so quickly he left his heart medication.

The levee system itself, built in the late 1800s, has many worried. University of California-Berkeley Professor Robert Bea told Hughes "it's marginal at best."

If the levees failed completely not only would people and property be in danger but the system that delivers fresh water to much of the state could be contaminated.

Water also receded in the heart of wine country along the Napa River, which rose out of its banks at the town of Napa and inundated several downtown blocks. Napa officials said some 600 homes and 150 businesses were flooded, and damage was estimated at $50 million.

There were no immediate reports of damage to wineries. Grape vines are largely dormant at this time of year.

High water and wind-whipped waves threatened several levees, including at least two in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where water washing over the top of a levee at Collinsville forced 40 people from about 15 homes, Don Strickland of the Department of Water Resources said.

In Novato, crews worked to repair a levee breach that flooded about a dozen homes.

The Rose Parade went off on schedule, but a clear poncho covered the white gown of Rose Queen Camille Clark and soggy wind bent spectators' umbrellas and snapped rain slickers. The crowds were thin.

"We came all this way, rain or shine, we can't go back now," said Ted Pettyjohn, 43, of Houston.

Hundreds of plastic ponchos for musicians and parade volunteers were ordered, horses were fitted with skid-resistant shoes, and float-builders rolled out sheets of plastic to protect orchids and other delicate flowers. The glue that holds decorations to the floats is waterproof and the floats are designed to withstand 50 mph winds.

Up to 6 inches of rain was forecast in the Southern California mountains, but authorities said there were no immediate reports of flooding or mudslides in areas where last summer's wildfires stripped vegetation from the hills.

Flooding and mudslides were reported throughout Santa Cruz County along the Central Coast.

Saturday's storm dumped 4 to 5 inches on much of Northern California, with Napa County getting up to 9 inches in less than 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Three inches more fell Sunday on Sonoma County.

Highway workers reopened Interstate 80 through the Sierra Nevada, where a landslide blocked the major east-west route on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the Sierra, however, heavy snow fell Monday and several avalanches closed U.S. 395, the main north-south route along the eastern side of the mountain range.

Mammoth Mountain reported 3 feet of new snow overnight, with several more feet expected during the day, and the ski resort was closed.