If you thought the past weekend brought on too much rain too fast with its localized flooding, authorities say expect a strong southerly wind to accompany another strong storm today and Thursday, guaranteeing that some trees will blow over in the area and possibly take down some electrical lines.
The problems are expected to be most severe this afternoon through early Thursday. Winds could reach 50 mph and up to 70 mph on the coast.
The Stanislaus Emergency Services is advising that driving conditions will be difficult during the storm. Residents are also advised to secure any outdoor items that could be picked up and carried by the wind.
Ceres Public Works Director Sam Royal said the city is prepared for what could be another inch of rain falling Wednesday and Thursday.
“If it rains steady and it’s not a downpour, I think we’ll manage pretty well,” said Royal. “But now that we have a good handle on all the leaves, we don’t have that issue so it looks like all outlets are open on our drain system.”
The city is prepared to deal with any trees that may fall with its tree service contractor, West Coast Arborists standing by with chain saws.
Sand bags are available for any homeowner who is concerned about flood waters from entering homes. Sand bags are available free of charge at the city’s corporation yard at Harold and Pine streets.
At the advice of the fire department the city has temporarily closed the lower terrace of the Ceres River Bluff Regional Park as levels of the Tuolumne River rise.
Water storage at Don Pedro Reservoir has been steadily gaining from the lower levels experienced through the drought. On Dec. 28, the lake held 1,067,000 acre-feet of water which increased to 1,240,000 acre-feet as of yesterday.
Over the New Year’s Eve weekend, flooding was severe enough that Highway 99 was closed at Kansas Avenue in Modesto at the same time flooding closed the freeway south of Elk Grove.
According to the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services, the Tuolumne River at Bystrum Road in Modesto is expected to swell from 40.29 feet as of 11:15 a.m. yesterday, to 49.1 feet at 6 a.m. on Friday, not quite reaching flood stage at 55 feet. The river is then expected to drop in flows.
As historical reference, the Tuolumne River reached 71.2 feet at Modesto on Jan. 4, 1997 and 66.43 feet on Christmas Day 1955.
As of press time, the area has received 8.69 inches of rain for the season to date. Average is 4.54 inches. The rainfalls season runs from July 1 to June 30.
Royal said the city experienced some flooding problems last weekend. A storm drainage system lift station shut off erroneously near Hatch and Herndon, causing significant ponding. The city is also having problems with flooding at Morgan and Service roads.
“Every time it rains it floods there because we don’t have any storm system for that area right there by the wastewater treatment plant,” said Royal. “That’s in the books, most likely this summer we need to do something about that.”
Soggy ground and wind contributed to the falling of an old Black Locust tree at Hale Aloha Way and Pikake Court in Ceres over the weekend but no property damages were reported.
