UPDATE: The city has shut down its emergency center, as it reports it no longer requires it.
The city of Healdsburg issued an emergency declaration late Wednesday morning following Tuesday’s behemoth storm that drenched Sonoma County and caused flooding in low-lying areas of Healdsburg and district wide school closures.
The declaration was issued at 9 a.m. by City Manager David Mickaelian. Shortly after, Sonoma County supervisors also issued an emergency declaration for the county.
After receiving 4 to 6 inches of rain Tuesday the Russian River continued to rise with 44-45,000 cubic feet of water rushing per second, inundating areas of Veterans Memorial Beach in Healdsburg and causing flooding along Heron and Almond Way between South Fitch Mountain Road and in the Kennedy Lane neighborhood.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service the river crested at 5:45 a.m. this morning at 26.84 feet – above the the minor flood level of 23 feet but below the moderate level of 27 feet. As of the latest river reading at 10:45 a.m. the river was at 26.1 feet and receding.
As rain continued to relentlessly pound the area, standing water started to build in downtown streets as drains backed up in the evening hours.
At 9:50 p.m. the city closed several streets including Piper at Healdsburg Avenue, Piper at Johnson Street, Center Street at Grant, Center Street at Mitchell, Grove Avenue at North Street, Grove Avenue at Foss Creek Circle, Kinley at Westside Road, Vine at the Roundabout, Matheson at Healdsburg Avenue and North Street at Healdsburg Avenue.
Downtown streets are reopened, however, low-lying areas of town such as Kennedy Lane and Presidential Court are still closed.
There were also U.S. 101 closures at the Highway 101 Southbound exit at Dry Creek Road and at the on-ramp at the southbound Old Redwood Highway exit.
Consequently, “The city of Healdsburg issued a declaration of emergency due to the intense flooding and inclement weather in the city,” according to a city press release from city spokeswomen Rhea Borja.
According to the statement, “Declaring an emergency will allow Healdsburg to efficiently access resources to help repair city infrastructure damaged by the flooding.”
While businesses and homes hunkered down with sandbags the city’s water reclamation facility flooded overnight with several feet of water.
Mickaelian said currently there are no water contamination concerns due to holding ponds, however, he said city crews want to get it up and running as soon as possible so water and sewage can be processed.
Borja said city staff will be out assessing damage to properties and city facilities later today and will get crews out to the reclamation plant as soon as roadways are cleared.
“We want to get repairs done as quickly as we can,” Borja said.
Due to wet roads and precarious travel conditions, the Healdsburg Unified School District decided to cancel all classes on Wednesday.
The district issued a statement Tuesday evening that they would close schools in an “abundance of caution.”
According to HUSD Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel, it is likely schools will reopen tomorrow.
“We are very confident that we will reopen tomorrow. I talked with the city and water has gone down so routes to schools are open,” Vanden Heuvel said.
He said the district will announce later today whether or not schools will reopen tomorrow.
Also in response to the storm, an emergency shelter was set up and opened around 5:30 a.m. at the community center on Healdsburg Avenue.
As of 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday the shelter was empty, awaiting folk who need a place to stay with food and coffee.
“We opened after we got the call from the EOC around 5:15 a.m. so we’ve had staff here since we opened this morning. It’s likely people will trickle in as they realize their fronts have flooded or if they need a place to stay dry,” said Matt Milde, facilities and event supervisor for the center. “We are kind of under the assumption that people in areas of flooding may be going to hotels or other shelters, so it is hard to say how many people we will actually get.”
The senior center was also open despite the cancelled “Coffee with the city” event that was planned for this morning.
Donna O’Brien, senior center volunteer coordinator, said people can come by and relax, have a cup of coffee or use a computer if needed.
“We have computers, coffee and friendly people so come on by,” she said.
O’Brien added she hasn’t seen rain and flooding like this since 2016 when her daughter was able to kayak through town.
George Ramos of Ramos Shoe Repair on Healdsburg Avenue said the business has flooded five times in the 25 years he has been at their location, however this time he got lucky.
“We didn’t get any flooding, we got lucky,” he said.
In regards to the emergency declaration, city council will be presented with the declaration for ratification on March 4.
