Flash flood warnings remain in effect for parts of Santa Cruz, Monterey, Tulare and Sonoma counties, according to the National Weather Service.
Excerpt from this story from the LA Times:
A levee failure on the Pajaro River in Monterey County overnight triggered massive flooding and prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of water rescues as the latest atmospheric river storm pummeled large swaths of California.
The levee — three miles upstream from the town of Pajaro — breached late Friday night, said Nicholas Pasculli, a Monterey County spokesperson. Patrols noticed boils “bubbling up in the adjacent farmland” at 11 p.m., the first sign that there was a problem.
Thirty minutes later, the levee failed, Pasculli said. As of Saturday morning, he said, “the failure is approximately 100 feet wide.” The town of Pajaro, made up of mostly farmworkers, is under water, he said.
Authorities conducted 60 rescues overnight, which included the use of high-water vehicles, the sheriff’s diving team, as well as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s swift-water team, officials said. National Guard personnel were dispatched to assist there. At least 96 people were placed in county shelters.
Teams will be going in Saturday morning to assess the depth and extent of the flooding. In addition, Pasculli said, the state would be sending helicopters loaded with fill material, which they’ll drop, to help “plug the hole” in the levee.
Pajaro, a small town of about 1,700 people, weathered the last set of storms because a flood wall in the lower part of the levee held up, said Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo said.
Elsewhere in Monterey County, the Salinas River flooded around the community of San Ardo prompting overnight evacuation orders.
Rain is expected to continue in the county Saturday, with possibly up to half an inch falling along the coast, said Cindy Kobold, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. A tenth to a quarter of an inch is expected for northern portions of the county from the morning into the night.
Efforts associated with the levee break, Kobold said, are “going to be further hampered by incoming weather.”
Another atmospheric river event is expected to hit the area early next week.