Weekend reprieve from rain in Cache Creek could bring end to state of local emergency
Posted May 24, 2020 6:26 pm.
Last Updated May 24, 2020 6:27 pm.
CACHE CREEK (NEWS 1130) — The weekend started off with rain in the forecast and a local state of emergency being declared in Cache Creek, but after a couple of dry days the risk of flooding could be receding.
On Thursday, people in about 175 properties along the Bonaparte River were warned that flooding could force them out of their homes.
That evacuation alert remains in place, but Wendy Coomber with the Cache Creek Emergency Operations Center says the fact that forecasted rain didn’t materialize is good news.
“It looked a little iffy yesterday morning and we were all thinking that the worst was going to happen but the clouds blew away and the sun came out and it was quite a nice day,” she explains.
“The water’s still running really fast. We’re still getting erosion but the level is going down moderately. It’s really rain-related so the people who monitor the weather told us that if we don’t get any substantial rain over the weekend then we should be okay heading into the new week.”
The riverbed is completely saturated, so the flood threat isn’t completely over.
“So, the least little bit of rain anywhere upstream from us is going to create another rise in the water levels,” Coomber says.
“We do have those people on alert and they are told to expect the worst, hope for the best just in case things go sideways and we get lots of rain. We’re all hoping that we’ve seen the worst of it but we’re not doing our happy dance yet.”
