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Cleaning Up The Mud In California

As soon as the water receded on 4th Street, Dave Roberts began hosing the mud off his bar and sweeping sludge out the doors, vowing to start serving beers again within hours.

The owner of Wild Jane's Bar and Restaurant seemed to take the flooding — which had drenched his business in 2½ feet of water and forced locals to paddle down the street in a canoe just the night before — all in stride.

"We're used to this," said Roberts, a 20-year resident of this town along the Russian River who had survived worse flooding before. "After all, it's just mud and water, easily cleaned."

Joy Veninga of Guernville disagrees: She is expecting a terrible mess. "It's going to be filthy. It's going to stink for probably months afterwards," she told KCBS Radio.

But before anyone is allowed back home, road inspectors will make sure it is safe. Flooding has undermined a number of roadways, and even one bridge, reports KCBS's Tim Ryan.

The break in the weather Monday meant residents of Guerneville and other wine country towns finally were able to focus on initial cleanup and damage estimates, after two powerful weekend storms dumped up to 10 inches of rain in some parts.

Rivers flooded and sent water gushing into towns. Rain washed mud down hills and onto homes and highways. Levees breached or weakened and forced evacuations of dozens of residents. At least three deaths were blamed on the storm — all from falling trees.

Firefighters had trouble fighting a structure fire in Monte Rio in Sonoma County because of flooding.

"They had to bring hoses in on boats, and then they had to attack the fire off of boats, because there was no place to bring the fire engines, Fire Chief Dan Levinson said.

On Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Napa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Trinity. Initial estimates put the damage in two towns alone at more than $100 million.

He also promised local officials help was on the way.

"It's all about quick action. Action, action, action," the ex-actor said.

In California's mountains, the word was snow, snow, snow," reports CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales. Bad news for drivers, but good news for resorts and skiers who may benefit the most from this latest winter storm.

Maybe not.

Heavy snow fell across the Sierra Nevada on Monday, from Lake Tahoe south to the Mammoth Mountain ski resort, where several avalanches shut down Highway 395, the main north-south route along the eastern Sierra, said John Rutkowski of the Mono County Sheriff's Department.

Mammoth reported 3 feet of new snow overnight, with several more feet expected to fall throughout the day. The resort was closed Monday.

"The town is pretty much at a standstill," Rutkowski said.

As the second storm moved south Monday, bringing heavy rain but little damage to the Los Angeles area, officials up north shifted into cleanup mode.

After rising as high as 5 feet above flood stage, the Napa River was back to safe levels again.

Initial damage estimates were approaching $75 million, with about 1,200 homes and 250 businesses, Napa spokesman Peter Dreier said Monday.

The Marin County town of San Anselmo, north of San Francisco, suffered some $40 million in damages after a flooded creek inundated downtown with 4 feet of water. Officials estimated about 70 downtown businesses and 100 homes were damaged.

Parts of Guerneville still were underwater Monday, as officials waited for the waters to recede back below flood stage by Tuesday morning.

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

The Russian River crested early Sunday at 42 feet — 10 feet above flood stage — submerging entire farms and trailer parks. Hundreds of homes were flooded, and the California Army National Guard used all-terrain vehicles to pick up people stranded by high water.

Further inland, about 40 residents of the rural Solano County town of Collinsville began returning home Monday after a weakened levee the day before threatened their homes and forced evacuations, said sheriff's spokeswoman Paula Toynbee.

Crews at Twitchell Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta worked to shore up a levee there that had prompted mandatory evacuations of several dozen residents. And in Novato, crews completed repairs on a 100-foot levee break near Highway 101.

Interstate 80 about 25 miles west of Reno completely reopened Sunday, a day after mudslides shut down the entire roadway.

Chains or snow tires were required on all mountain passes, including I-80 over Donner Summit and U.S. 50 over Echo Summit, the main routes connecting Nevada to Northern California.

Elsewhere, rain fell in Central California and Los Angeles, drenching the route of the Rose Bowl parade for the first time in a half-century.

The area saw sporadic pounding rain, hail and 40 mph winds, and minor rock and mud slides were reported on canyon roads. Gusts reached up to 79 mph in the Angeles National Forest. In Santa Barbara Harbor, storm-churned seas sent waves crashing over the breakwater, eroding a protective sand berm.

Southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Bakersfield reopened around 1 a.m. after being closed Monday afternoon when high winds blew power lines onto the road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The National Weather Service said San Luis Obispo got more than 5 inches and downtown Los Angeles nearly 2 inches.

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