Bay Area flooding closes roads, strands motorists
Flooding in Marin County stranded motorists and kayakers began paddling Saturday in areas where cyclists usually pedal. In San Francisco, storm surge drenched spectators at the Embarcadero and Crissy Field.
Elsewhere, storm surge caused other road closures in Alameda County and as far as Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.
Jon Borges surveyed the flooded intersection next to the Grand Gasoline gas station just off 101 De Silva Island Drive in Mill Valley and his friend’s stranded Toyota pickup truck.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” he said of the effects of the weekend’s big tides that flooded many low-lying areas in Mill Valley as well as San Francisco’s Embarcadero and other places around the Bay Area.
Oliver Ocampo, 5, of Sunnyvale plays in the water during a big wave Saturday near the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero. “I wish I had a rainbow,” said her mother, Sharon Hung. “It would be fun to play with.” (Yalonda M. James/SF Chronicle)
The Supermoon’s trio of strong winds and heavy rains from the incoming storm system resulted in a tide 8 feet higher than normal on Saturday morning; It’s the highest tide since Feb. 6, 1998, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass. Flooding was reported in the Bay Area in Marin County, Sonoma County, Alameda County, San Mateo County and San Francisco.
The tide peaked just after 10.30am on Saturday, but it took hours for the floodwaters to recede. San Francisco’s record high tide was 8.8 meters on January 27, 1998.
High tides set in motion coastal flood consultancy It will be in effect throughout much of the Bay Area and Central Coast until 2 p.m. on Sunday. Strong king tides And high winds It sent seawater into streets, parks and other sea-level areas. Floodwaters closed 2-foot-deep portions of Interstate 80 just west of the metering lights on the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge and forced the closure of numerous roads in Sonoma County, as well as other roads in Corte Madera.
Storm surge sent high waves over waterfront piers in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay and walkways at Pier 14 on the San Francisco Embarcadero, drenching onlookers.
Flash floods also disrupted traffic in Southern California. Southbound Highway 101 in Gaviota (Santa Barbara County) was closed Saturday morning due to landslides and flooding that covered all lanes.
Noah Dorfman walks Molly walks along a flooded road during a high tide in Mill Valley on Saturday. (Stephen Lam/SF Chronicle)
Mill Valley was hit especially hard, stranding drivers and causing intersections to be closed.
Borges, 28, received a phone call around 10.30 the morning the wave reached its peak.
His friend tried to drive his Toyota pickup truck through the flooded intersection and became stranded until local firefighters helped rescue him.
Borges lives on a houseboat in Sausalito and said he is used to the tides, but neither he nor his friend realized the flooding would be this bad at the gas station intersection.
“We are waiting for the water to go down enough to take the tow truck,” he said.
Mill Valley Department of Public Works workers closed a flooded intersection at Camino Alto and Miller Boulevard.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this this disgusting,” said Mark Bartel, who started working at the department six months ago.
People protect themselves from the rain at Pier 14 in San Francisco on Saturday. (Yalonda M. James/SF Chronicle)
The department had to close other roads two months ago due to minor flooding, but “it was nothing like this,” he said as he waved motorists into the adjacent Safeway parking lot.
A few yards down the road, Jen Bennett, 53, and Marianne Kabir, 56, were walking to pick up their son from basketball practice.
“You couldn’t even go to high school,” Bennett said.
He had tried to go for a run earlier in the day but found his usual ways underwater.
Kabir looked on the bright side. All the flooding had caused a flock of birds to show up.
“It’s truly amazing,” he said.
Eli Ferrell, left, and brothers Connor and Brett Cardinal prepare to launch a canoe from swollen Coyote Creek during Saturday’s big wave in Mill Valley. (Stephen Lam/SF Chronicle)
At Equator Coffee down Almonte Avenue, baristas answered calls from customers wondering if they could go into the store. Julia Pfahl, 36, was grabbing her morning coffee and chatting with the baristas. He had to leave home much earlier than usual to start working at Proof Lab Surf Shop. He arrived at work to find the shop under 4 inches of water.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” he said with a chuckle. “Everybody’s in a panic, nobody knows how to drive. I saw a car with water up to the windows next to the Holiday Inn (on the nearby Shoreline Highway). Did you really think you could get through there?”
Another period of minor coastal flooding is expected late Sunday morning, but it will not be as severe as Saturday’s water levels, meteorologists said.
Meteorologists said tide levels would be about half a meter lower than Saturday’s flooding. Coastal flood warnings are expected to ease by Monday.
This article was first published at: ‘Worst I’ve ever seen’: Flooding in Bay Area closes roads, strands drivers.
