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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 22 February
Hundreds rescued from California floodwaters in San Jose
KRISTIN J. BENDER they had been cleaned of
MARCIO J. SANCHEZ the floodwaters were al-
Associated Press lowed to board buses to
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — shelters.
Rescuers chest-deep in “This is like once-in-a-life-
water steered boats full of time,” said Bobby Lee, 15,
people, some with babies of the water around him.
and pets, on Tuesday from He was rescued with his
a San Jose neighborhood brother and parents, who
inundated by water from took clothes, electronics
an overflowing creek. and some photos from their
At least 225 residents were home in a neighborhood
taken to dry land and that ended up littered with
rinsed with soap and water submerged cars.
to prevent them from being Earlier Tuesday, firefight-
sickened by floodwaters ers rescued five people
that had traveled through stranded by flooding at a
engine fuel, garbage, de- homeless camp along the
bris and over sewer lines, same creek in San Jose.
San Jose Fire Capt. Mitch Firefighters went door-to-
Matlow said. door to tell residents to get
Residents went door-to- out of their homes because
door searching for people the city does not have si-
who needed to leave the rens or another emergency
neighborhood and only warning system, San Jose
residents who could prove spokesman David Voss-
Rescue crews take out residents from a flooded neighborhood Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in San Jose,
Calif. Rescuers chest-deep in water steered boats carrying dozens of people, some with babies
and pets, from a San Jose neighborhood inundated by water from an overflowing creek Tuesday.
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
brink said. a time in recent weeks.
The rains were the latest Heavy storms over the last
produced by a series of two weeks caused parts of
storms generated by so- the shoulder and part of
called atmospheric rivers one lane on the four-lane
that dump massive quanti- highway give way.
ties of Pacific Ocean water In the San Joaquin Valley
on California after carrying in California’s agricultural
it aloft from as far away as heartland, farmers used
Hawaii.The latest down- their tractors and other
pours swelled waterways to heavy equipment to help
flood levels and left about shore up an endangered
half the state under flood, levee along the San Joa-
wind and snow advisories. quin River.
In another area of San Some farmers took their
Jose, the fire department tractors and other equip-
was called to Coyote ment to the levee to help
Creek amid reports of as shore it up, arriving to fill a
many as 40 people being big breach within half an
stranded at a homeless en- hour of noticing the break,
campment. said alfalfa farmer Tony
That number turned out Coit.
to be inaccurate and five “The farmers ran it like a
people were located and boss,” he said, using soil
rescued, fire Capt. Mitch from the levee itself to fill in
Matlow said. the 30-foot-wide break un-
Their condition was not im- til they could truck in large
mediately available. rocks for more substantial
In the Sierra Nevada moun- repairs.
tain range, part of High- The water level rose at Lake
way 50, one of the main Oroville for the first time
routes to Lake Tahoe, was since authorities ordered
in danger of collapsing an emergency evacuation
after a roadway shoulder of 188,000 people more
gave way following heavy than a week ago after a
storms, leaving a gaping damaged spillway caused
hole about 40 feet long major flooding concerns.
and 17 feet wide, Caltrans The rains have saturated
engineer Jarrett Woodruff the once-drought stricken
said. region and wreaked havoc
Crews opened one lane for residents hit hard by the
open Tuesday as Caltrans storms. At least four people
workers tried to fix the road have died in the storms
failure after numerous mud- throughout the state in the
slides blocked it for days at last week.q