A historic flood is happening right now in California, forcing the evacuations of thousands of people. Mandatory evacuations have just been ordered for many of the residents and a state of emergency has been declared for parts of Sonoma County. Read on to learn more and see maps of affected areas.
Sonoma County declared a local state of emergency as the Russian River overflowed its banks, and they’re requesting that Gov. Gavin Newsom declare an official State of Emergency, KRON 4 reported.
If you have questions about flooding, a public hotline has been set up at 707-565-3856. The Russian River is forecast to reach a crest of 46 feet by 9 p.m. today. More than 3,600 residents have received evacuation notices, including Mirabel, Guerneville, and Monte Rio.
Information about flooding can change rapidly, so watch your local news for the latest reports.
You can find an official map of flooding in the area, including closed and restricted areas here. This map includes school closures, emergency shelter locations, sandbag locations, closed or restricted areas, and major and moderate flooding according to live river gauges. You can enter your address into the map to see what’s happening near your area.
This map is not embeddable, but here is a screenshot of what it currently shows:
ESRI
Remember, you must go here to see the live version of the map. This is an official public information map from Sonoma County.
Public Information Map for @CountyofSonoma #Sonoma #Guerneville shows road closures, school closures, sandbag locations, power outages. Link: t.co/wjScwdpxDf
A second interactive map that shows the 100-year flood plain in solid blue is below. Click on the tweet below to see it. You can see the state stream gauge if you click on the blue triangle. Colored dots are federal stream gauges, Joseph Elfelt explained on Twitter, and red indicates the worst flooding.
1/2 Interactive map shows 100 year flood plain (solid blue) and has 2 sets of clickable stream gages. 1. Click blue triangle (state stream gage). 2. Follow link. 3. Click (RIV STG). Open #GISsurfer map: t.co/Mu8EEJ0jG0
#flood #Guerneville #RussianRiver
Google also provides a map that shows the location of the flooding on a statewide map here.
This next Google map shows Russian River flood warnings in Mendocino County:
Guerneville and Monte Rio have become isolated “islands” from the flooding, with roads going into and out of the towns closed, SFist reported.
Current conditions in Monte Rio. Please heed evacuation orders.
Russian River keeps rising. Photos from Guerneville. See interactive flood map and more info at t.co/3E8qX9nNBl. Be prepared to evacuate if you live near the river.
For updates, follow the Sonoma Sheriff on Twitter, visit SoCoemergency.org, and follow local news updates.