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U.S. NEWS Saturday 2 March 2019
Evacuations lifted for flooded California wine country towns

By JOSH EDELSON and County home by walking
OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ through about 5 feet (1.5
Associated Press meters) of water.
GUERNEVILLE, Calif. (AP) Benito Nunez-Rodriguez,
— Jason Flint prepared for 35, of Ferndale was trying to
flooding in Northern Califor- walk from his job at a dairy
nia by putting his deli's valu- farm to his home Wednes-
able equipment on pallets day evening when he was
and milk crates stacked carried away by the fast-
several feet above the moving current, said Sa-
ground. mantha Karges, a spokes-
It wasn't enough, as he woman with the Humboldt
found out Friday when he County Sheriff's Office.
returned to Guerneville af- Co-workers had tried to en-
ter two days of flooding in courage Nunez-Rodriguez
Sonoma County's famed to spend the night with
wine country. Mud-cov- them rather than cross the
ered refrigerators, display flood waters, but he want-
cases and food crates were ed to get home, Joseph
strewn about by 6-foot-high Alexandre, manager of Al-
(2 meters) murky water. exandre Family Farm, said
"My entire deli is wiped Friday.
out," Flint said. "It's crazy. It's "We're all pretty shaken Farmhand Deli co-owner Jason Flint surveys the damage inside his restaurant along River Road
as flood waters from the Russian River continue to recede in Guerneville, Calif., on Friday, March
too much to get my head up about what happened 1, 2019.
around this." and thinking what could Associated Press
Evacuation orders were we have done differently,"
lifted and all roads into Alexandre said. salvaged cleaning sup- man Hannah Euser said stay away from the area
Guerneville and neighbor- Along the main road in plies and brought them to even though evacua- unless they have necessary
ing Monte Rio were opened Guerneville, business own- the sidewalk to sell at a dis- tion orders were lifted for business.
Friday, almost three days ers inspected the damage counted rate. Guerneville and Monte Rio, Light rain was forecast for
after being cut off by the caused by floodwaters Locals are accustomed to residents were encouraged Friday night in the area and
rain-swollen Russian River. that rose about 46 feet (14 the river flooding in rainy to wait to enter their homes Euser said emergency per-
Days of heavy rain had meters) Wednesday night, weather, but not like this, until they are inspected. sonnel would remain work-
left the towns reachable the river's highest level in 24 he said. Damage assessment crews ing through the weekend.
only by boat Wednesday. years. "The store has gone through planned to mark green, She said there were con-
About 2,600 homes, busi- Chris Reid, a manager of all the floods but this is a lot yellow and red tags to indi- tinuing concerns for mud-
nesses and other structures True Value Hardware, said more than we expected," cate whether they are safe slides in areas scarred by
in the popular tourist des- they were able to salvage Reid said. Flint said he knew for re-entry. wildfires two years ago.
tination were flooded by cash registers, computers, flooding was inevitable "We have a lot of buildings "We are not completely out
water up to 8 feet (2.4 me- chain saws and other ex- when he opened his deli that have taken in water of the woods here," said
ters) deep and about 3,700 pensive equipment by put- but he couldn't afford to and we will be inspecting Assemblyman Jim Wood,
people were ordered to ting them on the second pay $2,000 per month for them to determine if they who represents the area in
evacuate. floor of the two-story build- flood insurance. are safe," she said. the state Legislature.
No one was injured or killed ing. "I've been here 17 years Euser said crews were still Another wet system car-
and the river receded be- But on the ground level, all and I've never seen the riv- clearing trees, tires and rying the aptly named
low the 32-foot flood level. the shelves were covered er that high. I pray the worst even propane tanks from "atmospheric river" is in
However, more than 200 in chest-high mud. He and of it is over," he said, adding the streets while workers the forecast next week,
miles (320 kilometers) north, employees washed down that he plans to rebuild his with Pacific Gas and Elec- though forecasters say it's
a man drowned while try- rubber boots, brooms, business. tric checked power lines. expected to affect central
ing to reach his Humboldt shovels, buckets and other Sonoma County spokes- Officials warned people to California.q

Measles outbreak in Pacific

Northwest about half of U.S. cases

By GILLIAN FLACCUS International Airport and in Clark County, Washing-
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The various locations in Salem, ton, said three new cases
focus on measles in the Pa- Oregon last week while were identified Friday and
cific Northwest intensified contagious with measles, two more are suspected.
Friday as public health offi- the Oregon Health Author- That brings the number of
cials in Oregon announced ity said. Potential exposure cases in the Portland, Or-
a new case of the highly locations include a Red egon bedroom community
contagious disease unre- Robin restaurant and a of Vancouver, Washington,
lated to an ongoing out- trampoline fun park in Sa- to 68 — more than 40 per-
break in Washington state lem, officials said. cent of the number report-
that's sickened 68 people The case is unrelated to an ed nationwide since Jan.
so far. ongoing measles outbreak 1, the Centers for Disease
In this Jan. 30, 2019, file photo, a sign posted at The Vancou- An unvaccinated Illinois in southwest Washington Control and Prevention
ver Clinic in Vancouver, Wash., warns patients and visitors of a
measles outbreak. resident who spent time state that's sickened doz- said in updated statistics
Associated Press overseas visited Portland ens. Public health officials released Friday.q