Residents Relieved As Truckee River Avoids Flooding
TRUCKEE (CBS13) - The heavy rain over the Sierra had some residents along the Truckee River on high alert.
It has been a tense couple of days for residents in Truckee. Some even had sand bags ready Saturday night and their eye on the river Sunday.
The Truckee River was louder than normal Sunday as heavy rain caused it to swell.
"I've lived here a long time, 28 years; I've lived through three different floods," resident Michael Kalan said.
So when Kalan heard that there was a flood warning for the river next to his house, it got his attention.
"Floods are scary things, and if you live on a river, bad things can happen. I was being alert," said Kalan.
The river was predicted to crest at around eight feet Sunday morning, but it only made it to four feet.
"Just to the end of the lawn," said Kalan.
That's how far it made it on his property, a long shot from his home.
A few doors down, Craig Lindsay was also watching the water closely. He even put some sandbags down just in case.
In the end, it was just practice and a light workout, which was fine by Lindsay.
"I'd rather not deal with flood issues, for sure," said Lindsay.
Even though the rain was coming down hard at times, it changed over to snow Sunday morning in Truckee and in the Sierra. That meant less rain ran directly into the river to cause it to flood.
The Sierra snow wasn't much, but Lindsay says it's a nice change from days, and days of rain.
Although the river didn't flood, it was moving fast enough for some brave, and possibly careless, teens to take a ride while the water was high.
Not only were homeowners taking the flood warning seriously, emergency crews were as well. They set up a shelter in case residents needed to evacuate. Luckily it didn't come to that and the shelter closed early Sunday afternoon.
