New storm soaks Bay Area; Body found in submerged car; Storm surge slams Stinson Beach

SAN RAFAEL -- The relentless parade of storms continued Wednesday as another plume of moisture rolled into the Bay Area, further elevating fears of flooding, toppling trees and mudslides.

Authorities in Sonoma County said a woman was found dead inside a vehicle submerged in floodwaters in Forestville Wednesday morning. Sheriff's deputies and water rescue crews had been searching for a submerged vehicle since Tuesday after a 9-1-1 call reporting a car trapped in floodwaters. It's believed to be the 18th death statewide associated with the series of atmospheric river storms.

Forecasters said the North Bay would bear the brunt of this latest round of showers. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the region lasting until Thursday morning.

It's an unwelcome warning for Marin County officials who declared a local state of emergency Tuesday night because of the severe impacts of recent storms.

"Beginning December 27, 2022, heavy rains combined with saturated ground and high tides to cause neighborhood flooding, inundate roads, erode creek banks, prompt mudslides, knock out electrical power, topple trees, and endanger both lives and public and private infrastructure," officials said in their proclamation.

The damage has been heaviest in Stinson Beach, where 45 residences have sustained water damage from the ocean's storm surge while another 22 suffered structural damage.

"The storm door is not closed," said Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber.

The weather service said the culprit was "an enormous cyclone" driving wave after wave of storm fronts fueled up with tropic moisture into California.

"An enormous cyclone rotating well off the West Coast will bring the next round of heavy precipitation and gusty winds today, this time targeting Northern California," the weather service said. "Unlike the recent atmospheric river events, this upcoming event is forecast to impact areas farther north and up the coast of the Pacific Northwest through the next few days."

At least another 2 inches or more were predicted for the saturated hillsides and flood-swollen rivers and creeks in the North Bay. An inch or more would fall elsewhere.

"The state has been experiencing drought for the last four years, and now we have storm upon storm," California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis said Wednesday. "We've had six storms in the last two weeks. This is the kind of weather you would get in a year and we compressed it just into two weeks."

At least 17 people have died over the more than 2 weeks of rain. The figure is likely to rise, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.

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A pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist were killed early Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on them, authorities said.

More than half of California's 58 counties were declared disaster areas, the governor said.

In between storms, business owners and local residents were trying to clean up the damage left behind by flood waters, pounding surf, and battering winds.

On Tuesday, Newsom toured the storm-battered businesses in downtown Capitola. Among the businesses ravaged by the storms was the Sand Bar owned by Jeff and Minna Lantis.

Their building has been red-tagged after the pounding surf buckled the bar's floor and shifted it off its foundation.

"I thought we were prepared," Minna Lantis told KPIX. "We had our sandbags out. But what happened on that Thursday morning was nothing that you could prepare for."