Storms Pound Northern California Again

Wind and driving rain pounded Northern California anew Monday and weary residents, some fearful of renewed flooding, watched water levels rise in lakes and rivers.

The new storm that arrived with the start of spring ended a three-day respite from last week’s rains, which caused floods that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents.

By midafternoon, rainfall totals for the past 24 hours ranged from an inch or less around San Francisco to almost 1 1/2 inches at Redding, in the northern Sacramento Valley.

Bursts of heavy rain raised concerns and water levels at Clear Lake, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, and on the Napa and Russian rivers, also north of the city.

All were scenes of serious flooding this month.

Forty-nine of California’s 58 counties were declared disaster areas after the second bout of serious flooding this year.

More than 10,000 people sought help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Red Cross said it was still housing 880 people at seven shelters, down from 70 housing 4,150 people at the height of the storms.

Mountain travelers faced treacherous driving conditions with up to 6 feet of snow expected in the Sierra Nevada this week, said Bob Benjamin of the National Weather Service.