Sacramento Locals Rejoice The Much-Needed Rain, Fight Through Holiday Traffic
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The first rain of the season slowed traffic on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
"I've been on Highway 80 and traffic is just everywhere," said James Riddley.
"Traffic was just horrible the whole way here, lots of accidents, passed a couple on our way," said Cheryl Kushner.
It's the first break in dry weather in months and many in the Sacramento region embraced it. In fact, we haven't seen significant rainfall in more than 200 days.
"It was a lot of rain, it was coming down pretty good," said one traveler at Sacramento airport.
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With turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie on the mind, the motivation was there and the packed roads were proof. But the mix of rain with oil on the pavement made for slippery and dangerous driving conditions.
"We saw a number of accidents, cars run off the road, significant crashes," said Riddley.
"It's Thanksgiving I expected the roads to be busy, we took our time, making sure people are safe," said Kushner.
At Sacramento Airport, there were lots of warm hugs as families reunited for the holiday weekend.
"It was kind of brutal, driving through torrential downpours, coming from Chico, we need the rain," said one couple from Chico who have friends who lost their homes in the Camp Fire. They were looking forward to escaping the fires for a trip to the East Coast.
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"It's exciting, especially to put the fires out to some degree, we need it more than anything," said Doug Oglesby traveling from North Dakota.
Some travelers say it was much-needed relief in Northern California, but they traveled with heavy hearts thinking about the ongoing firefight.
