‘Life-threatening’ flood warnings issued to Fresno County residents as storms move in
Fresno County officials are urging the public to be prepared for the worst-case scenario as a rainstorm that touched ground in the central San Joaquin Valley on Thursday is expected to bring life-threatening floods.
“This is an unrivaled, unparalleled weather event not experienced in several decades,” Kris Mattarochia, a science and operations officer with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said in a media briefing on Thursday afternoon. “There will be high water in areas that are usually not impacted, so everyone needs to be ready.”
Rain from a storm expected to bring excessive rainfall touched ground in the San Joaquin Valley on Thursday afternoon. The heaviest rains are expected to fall overnight from Thursday to Friday.
The atmospheric river could flood streams, rivers and storm drains, prompting officials in Fresno, Madera and Tulare counties to announce evacuation warnings. The warm rain, combined with the snow on the ground from prior storms, is expected to cause “life-threatening” flooding, Mattarochia said.
On Wednesday night, Gov. Gavin Newsom added Fresno County to a growing list of California counties under emergency proclamation.
The communities along the Kings River and San Joaquin River are of particular concern to county officials. Evacuation warnings are currently in place for some parts of Fresno County, primarily in the area east of the Friant-Kern Canal and on the Fresno-Tulare county line near the Kings River.
The Kings River, Mattarochia said, ”will be pushed to limits which are unimaginable.” The difference between this storm and the atmospheric river that passed through back in January is that “there was a lot more room” to accommodate the heavy rainfall.
“This time around, there isn’t as much room for the water to go to because we’ve been so saturated and because of the heavy snowfall at the lower elevations,” he said.
And county officials say it will only get worse.
“Unfortunately, the latest forecast continues to give us even higher expected rainfall and historic river flows that will create flooding in multiple areas of Fresno County,” County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland said.
Two to four inches of rain are expected in Fresno, while four to eight inches of rain are expected in the foothills.
Highest level of emergency activated
Fresno County Emergency Services Director Terri Mejorado said the highest level emergency, Level 1, has been activated.
She also urged people to have their “go bags” ready, including three days worth of clothing, medications, and any food and supplies for pets.
“We cannot stress enough to pre-plan,” she said.
Fresno County officials warned Thursday these evacuation warnings could turn into orders at a moment’s notice — especially after the rain picks up overnight Thursday into the early morning hours on Friday.
An emergency shelter has been set up at the Sanger Community Center at 730 Recreation Ave. This shelter opened at 3 p.m. on Thursday. An emergency shelter had initially been set up in Reedley but was moved due to its proximity to the Kings River.
Anyone who plans to shelter in place should make sure to have sufficient food, medication, and supplies on hand to ride out the storm, which they expect to last through Saturday night.
There will be another heavy rain and snow event on Monday that will last until Wednesday, followed by another storm at the end of next week, Mattarochia of the NWS said.
“We want everyone to know that this is not a normal situation,” he said. “This is something that is completely outside the realm of even possibilities that we can imagine as meteorologists.”
Fresno city, valley floor communities also at risk
Fresno city residents and other valley floor communities also need to take precautions — “even if you live far away from normally impacted high water areas,” Mattarochia said.
Valley floor communities like Fresno have a lot of trees, he said, which are at risk of falling with “weak” gusts of winds at 20-30 miles per hour. Power lines and trees could fall across roadways, on top of homes, or other infrastructure.
The soils are so saturated from all the rain we’ve received,” he said, “it will not take much (for them to fall).”
Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni said people should limit any non-essential travel into and out of the county, given the strain on existing resources.
“We want to make sure that we don’t lose one life in Fresno County because of this incident,” he said.
Anyone interested in receiving emergency alerts can sign up at fresnocountyemergency.com, which will have the latest information on evacuations and more.
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 4:40 PM.
