Update: High winds topple big rig on Golden Gate Bridge

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gusty winds whipped through the Golden Gate Bridge Saturday, toppling a big rig that triggered a traffic nightmare that lingered for hours.

"The #1 and #2 southbound and northbound lanes are blocked on the Golden Gate Bridge due to an overturned big rig," the California Highway Patrol tweeted early Saturday evening. "High-profile vehicles should avoid the area due to high winds. Please avoid the area and use an alternate route."  

At the time, the National Weather Service had issued gale warnings for the waters off the bridge.  

Shortly after 7 p.m. the CHP tweeted that traffic on all lanes of the bridge would be halted while the truck was removed. At 8:12 p.m. all lanes on the bridge were open, but the backup continued to linger. 

The bridge lanes were shut down for more than 3 hours.

Meanwhile to the south, the rising flood waters of the San Lorenzo River and  Soquel Creek forced residents to flee their homes for a second time in a week in Felton Grove and Soquel Village.

Santa Cruz County officials sent deputies door to door in both communities that were hard hit by the swollen river waters in Monday.

"Emergency evacuations underway in Felton Grove," Santa Cruz county officials tweeted at 11 a.m. "Deputies are in the area. If you live in the neighborhood, please leave now."

Rising flood waters Saturday morning also forced the evacuation of low-lying areas in Soquel Village, including Soquel Wharf Road.

"Deputies are going door to door to notify impacted properties," Santa Cruz County officials tweeted.  

By mid-morning, the Napa County Sheriff's office was also reporting widespread flooding including on Silverado Trail at the Rutherford fire station, and at Tubbs lane and Highway 29. 

A portion of Cloverdale Road in Pescadero was also closed due to a mudslide.  

Marin County officials announced Saturday morning that a downed treed closed U.S. Highway 1 closed Point Reyes between Mesa and Cypress roads. Drivers should avoid the area.

Pacific Gas and Electric responded to the downed tree as it caused power lines to go down. The closure is expected to last for most of the day. About 851 PG&E customers were affected by the outage, according to officials.

A tree also shut down Marion Avenue in Mill Valley.

Mudslides and flooding also closed Niles Canyon Road in Fremont. The section of the road, which is also SR-84, was shut down between Old Canyon Road to Silver Springs Road, and officials had no estimate of when it would reopen.

The National Weather Service was predicting another 2 inches or more of rain in San Francisco and other Bay Area communities, and up to 6 inches in the already saturated Santa Cruz Mountains by Monday. 

The historic deluge has all but eradicated the severe drought conditions that had held California in a tight grip for more than a year.

David Lawrence, a weather service meteorologist, said that over the last 18 days, the state has averaged more than nine inches of rainfall a day — a remarkable amount that has seen some locations meet their average annual rainfall already.

And state officials were warning rain-weary local residents that it's not time yet to relax.

"People will become complacent, but the ground is saturated," said Nancy Ward, the director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. "It is extremely, extremely dangerous. And that water can continue to rise well after the storms have passed."  

The weather service had issued flood advisories for waterlogged communities across the Bay Area and high surf warning for coastal residents.

"Renewed potential for flooding and downed trees today as rain and gusty winds arrive," forecasters tweeted. "Also watch out for hazardous beach and marine conditions with high surf and coastal flooding. In short, it's a good inside day."

Officials were also keeping their eyes on several rain-swollen waterways including the Salinas River near Spreckels, the Russian River near Hopland, the Navarro River at Navarro and the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.

"1 hour rain rates approaching 0.50 inches per hour in the Santa Cruz Mountains as heavy rain bands are moving through the region," the weather service tweeted. "Be ready for rapid rises on the San Lorenzo River today."

Meanwhile, Spreckels resident Al Montes was preparing for water in the streets. On Friday the 13th he was considering himself lucky. Just a half mile away, the river was full with the levees holding strong. 

"So we're hoping they hold up enough that the water gets diverted on the other side of Highway 68 and floods more fields," he laughed. 

Forecasters said the showers will become scattered by early Saturday afternoon, a fortunate break for the San Francisco 49ers who host the Seattle Seahawks in an NFC wild card playoff game.

Still  flyover planned for the National Anthem was cancelled three hours before game time.

Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Chris Foerster said it also helps that the team has been practicing in wet conditions since Dec. 26.

"The fortunate thing is we've had some rain here, obviously in Northern California lately, so we've practiced in it a lot," he said. "We had some rain games early, the first Seattle game had some rain, obviously not to the extent that we're going to probably get this weekend."

"I think you just have to practice in it, which we're doing," Foerster added. "Which is really fortunate and you just get used to dealing with a wet ball. I was noticing the quarterback-center exchanges today were good, knock on wood, and the guys, they do a good job with it."

The rains could also be a good omen. In 1982, there were also biblical rains that began at halftime of a playoff game with the New York Giants and lasted for days.

San Francisco defeated Dallas on a sloppy field at Candlestick Park and went on to win their first Super Bowl.

Elsewhere, residents will be continuing to clean up the debris left behind by the deluge between rain drops. Many residents of the Belmont Trailer Park were feeling sadness and frustration, exhausted from dealing with flooding issues over the last few days.

"I lost some of my clothing, shoes, my son's toys," said resident Claudia Ramirez.

She's not the only one. At least ten homes have seen the impact of rising water in the neighborhood since New Year's Eve. 

Residents like Ramirez and Vicky Sanchez want people to know what they're going through and witness the  impact the endless string of storms is having on their community.

"I thought it wasn't gonna be this bad, but it was. And we're just waiting to see who can help us," said Sanchez.