By LISA LEFF Associated Press Writer
December 31,2005 SAN FRANCISCO -- A powerful storm plowed through Northern California on Saturday, threatening to flood rivers, cause mudslides and snarl holiday traffic from Sonoma to Monterey.
One woman was injured when a mudslide destroyed her home in Santa Rosa just before midnight. It took firefighters nearly an hour to free her from the mud and debris, said Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Andy Pforsich. She was taken to the hospital with a broken leg.
As heavy rain set in, forecasters warned that parts of Sonoma, Sacramento, Shasta and Tehama counties were ripe for their worst flooding in years. Flood warnings were in effect from Sonoma County across the state to the Nevada line.
Authorities on Friday urged hillside homeowners to collect valuables, gather emergency supplies and identify escape routes.
Officials and residents were keeping an eye on the Russian, Napa and Sacramento rivers, as water levels quickly approached -- and in some parts, surpassed -- flood stage.
In the Sonoma County town of Guerneville, officials prepared for the Russian River to rise as high as 43 feet after a second storm expected to hit Sunday. Flood level is 31 feet.
An average of 4 inches of rain fell north of the San Francisco Bay area in the 24-hour period ending Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
The storms could add as much as 6 inches of rain to the already water-logged region by the end of the weekend, said Rick Canepa, an NWS meteorologist based in Monterey.
"Both storms are going to add up to quite an amount of rainfall, some of the heaviest rains we have seen so far this season," Canepa said.
Interstate 5 was closed both ways over the Siskiyou Summit near the Oregon border between Hilt and Ashland, Ore., because of flash flooding and landslides. U.S. Highway 101 was closed by fallen trees and mud south of Crescent City.
Wet runways and poor visibility caused delays of two to three hours on most flights in and out of San Francisco International Airport. More than 2 feet of snow was predicted to blanket the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite National Park to Kings Canyon, making road travel nearly impossible this weekend, said officials at the San Joaquin Valley Weather Forecast Office.
Meanwhile, Southern California prepared for the arrival of moderate to heavy rain Saturday and the second storm Sunday and Monday. Forecasters issued flash flood watches for large areas burned by the year's wildfires in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Rain could fall on Pasadena's Rose Parade for the first time in 51 years. Horses will wear shoes coated with borate to help them resist slipping. Float builders will roll out sheets of clear plastic to protect orchids and other delicate flowers if it rains.
"It's kind of like seeing a movie star without makeup," said Bill Eggleton as he oversaw the decoration of the Automobile Club of Southern California's float. "It won't be pretty."
