How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Emergency Operations Center has reopened as part of the county's ongoing response to Thursday's storm.
The center, or EOC, reopened at 7 a.m. Friday after being on “duty officer” status since 7 p.m. Thursday, according to county public information officer, Jill Ruzicka.
Students were back in school on Friday, with all Lake County schools opened, Ruzicka reported.
She said that on Friday there were no reports of Pacific Gas and Electric customers being without service. If there are power concerns, customers may call PG&E at 800-743-5000.
It was reported the city of Clearlake sustained significant and widespread damage due to flooding. City Manager Joan Phillipe declared a local emergency on Thursday, as Lake County News has reported.
The Red Cross shelter located at the Lower Lake High School gymnasium, at 9430 Lake St., is still open, one of three such shelters the Red Cross opened around the Bay Area and North Coast in response to the storm.
In the case of the Lower Lake shelter, the only shelter in Lake County, it was used to house evacuees from the Village neighborhood, where officials said about 100 residents were evacuated due to high water on Thursday.
Ruzicka said the Red Cross is actively monitoring the situation and will close the shelter when there is no longer a need for it.
The city of Lakeport did not reactivate its emergency operations center Friday, and is beginning the damage assessment process, Ruzicka said.
Jim Brown, Lake County Health Services director, reported that most storm-related impacts on the Lake County health system have been or are currently being resolved.
Ruzicka said Lampson Field airport was to reopen at noon on Friday. It was closed on Thursday due to debris on the runway from an overflowing, nearby culvert.
The storm also caused issues near the Lakeside Height subdivision in north Lakeport, where a landslide began in March 2013. Since then, several houses have been destroyed.
Lake County Public Works closed a portion of Hill Road East in front of the subdivision on Dec. 2 due to concerns that coming storms might cause the slide to come down the hill and impact the roadway.
“The slide at Lakeside Heights has overtopped the K-railing that was placed at the base of the slope and has extended out into Hill Road,” Lake County Public Works Director Scott De Leon said Friday. “Hill Road will remain closed and our emergency access detour to the hospital from Lakeshore will stay in place until further notice.”
Regarding other county roads that had flooding or damage because of the storm, Ruzicka said one that had been closed on Thursday, Eickhoff Road in Lakeport, has been reopened.
She also offered the following road conditions updates:
– High Valley Road: High Valley Road is restricted to single lane traffic at MPM 2.0 due to a washout of the roadway.
– Soda Bay Road: Soda Bay Road near Marina View Drive (Horseshoe Bend Area) had a undermining of the roadway. The area has been stabilized but the traveling public is advised to reduce speed and use extreme caution through this area.
– Hill Road: Hill Road is closed to all traffic from just north of Sutter Lakeside Hospital to Lakeshore Boulevard due to public safety concerns. Detours and signs are in place alerting the traveling public of the need to use alternative routes. Sutter Lakeside Hospital is still accessible on Hill Road East and can be accessed by taking the Park Way Exit on Highway 29 or taking Park Way from Lakeshore Boulevard.
– Ackley Road: Ackley Road is closed to all traffic from Matthews Road to Highway 29.
– Reiff Road: Reiff Road is closed to through traffic until further notice due to winter road conditions. Residents can access their properties.
– Seigler Canyon Road: Seigler Canyon Road is closed to through traffic due to flooding.
– Scotts Valley Road: Scotts Valley Road, from Highway 20 to the packing sheds is closed due to flooding.
Lake County Office of Emergency Manager Marisa Chilafoe is in the field on Friday, touring areas of damage. She also will visit the city of Clearlake Emergency Operations Center.
The next briefing at the Lake County Emergency Operations Center is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, Ruzicka said. A preliminary list of damage assessments will be presented.
Residents can still call 707-263-2360 for recorded information or check the new Lake County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-OES/307452049434603 , for updates.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Thursday, community residents and local officials had to deal with floodwaters and heavy amounts of rain thanks to a storm system that hit the region.
The storm led to the declaration of local emergencies by the county and the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport, resulted in an evacuation of some residents in the city of Clearlake, closed schools and the county's bus service, caused temporary closures on some roadways and rapidly filled creeks, fields and streets.
The video above shows the effort to clean up and assess the situation, which was taking place Thursday.
Forecasters said another, less severe phase of the storm is expected on Friday.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – While on Friday the final leg of the big winter storm is set to arrive, forecasters are predicting far less rain than was seen around Lake County on Thursday.
The National Weather Service's flood warning for the county – where widespread flooding did occur on Thursday due to heavy rains – was set to expire at 1:15 a.m. Friday, while a flood watch will remain in effect until 10 p.m. Friday.
Twenty-four hour rainfall totals through 5 p.m. Thursday ranged from 0.54 of an inch at Hough Springs to just over 5 inches in Lakeport, 5.73 inches near Lower Lake, 6.7 inches at Hidden Valley Lake and 9.85 inches at Boggs Mountain, according to the National Weather Service.
The agency also reported that wind gusts in the county for the period ending at noon on Thursday ranged between 24 miles per hour near Hidden Valley Lake and up to 73 miles per hour at the High Glad Lookout above Upper Lake.
The National Weather Service's updated forecast expect more showers on Friday and into the night, with a possibility of thunderstorms after 4 p.m.
Rainfall totals around the county are anticipated to range from a tenth to a quarter of an inch, with some light winds, the forecast said.
Forecasters said rainfall totals could be higher if thunderstorms occur.
The rainfall continued to benefit Clear Lake's level, which was just under 1.0 foot Rumsey late Thursday, placing it at nearly twice the level it was on Dec. 11 of 2013, according to US Geological Survey and county records.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake Transit Authority's buses will be back on the county's roads on Friday, after transit officials on Thursday morning temporarily closed down the service because of safety concerns related to storm conditions.
Wanda Gray, regional manager for Paratransit Services – the Bremerton, Wash.-based company that holds the Lake Transit contract – said they plan to assess the situation starting at about 3:30 a.m. Friday.
After they check conditions and any major road closures, Gray said buses will be rolling out onto their routes, with the first bus scheduled to leave the yard at 5 a.m.
Despite predictions of heavy rain on Thursday, the transit authority had planned to move forward with normal operations.
“We were trying to do what the school system was doing,” said Gray. “They took a wait and see approach and so did we.”
By early morning, most of the county's schools had declared a storm day. The buses were attempting to continue on, but not for long.
The flooded roadways were a factor in the Thursday service suspension, but more of an issue, said Gray, were the resulting road closures.
Buses heading to the Lakeport area were turned around by law enforcement at Highland Springs and Highway 29, she said.
Vehicles also had been backed up at Kit's Corner and on Seigler Canyon Road, she said.
“It was just kind of happening all at once” – with one closure after another, and the situation changing rapidly, Gray said.
“Nobody was getting anywhere,” she added.
One of Lake Transit's major routes follows Olympic Drive and Burns Valley Road through Clearlake, where flood waters were about 2 feet deep, Gray said.
Gray said it was safer for people to stay home – both riders and drivers alike. In the case of employees, they live all over the county, and Gray said there were concerns about them being able to get home safely themselves.
At around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, the decision was made to have buses return to the bus barn in Lower Lake and to return riders home or to their closest bus stop, Gray said.
Dial-a-ride and health services patients also had to be rescheduled, but Gray said most of them were calling and saying, “I'm not going out in that,” referring to the weather.
“The phones were really, really busy this morning,” she said.
As buses were returning and workers being sent home, Gray said the Lake County Fire Protection District contacted Lake Transit at about 10:30 a.m. to ask them to be on call in case they were needed to help evacuate a nursing home in the city's Village area.
High waters were threatening that neighborhood, where officials reported about 100 residents would be evacuated to a shelter set up at Lower Lake High School.
Gray said Lake Transit drivers who live in the Clearlake area were put on call in case they were needed. However, as it turned out, they were not called upon.
While Lake Transit personnel were sent home, Gray remained at the Lower Lake facility, where the flood waters edged closer to the bus barn throughout the day, but finally began to recede at around 3:30 p.m.
She was remaining in Clearlake overnight in case the situation worsened.
Gray said she was impressed with the response of local agencies to the storm, noting they quickly had signs up and dealt with road and other hazards.
For more about Lake Transit visit http://laketransit.org/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
In the midst of a major storm that's hitting California, Cal Fire is reminding residents to take steps to heat their homes safely.
While the cooler weather and rain is a welcomed event during a time of severe drought in California, it also means that many will need to turn on home heating sources to keep warm indoors.
Cal Fire is encouraging everyone to be safe with heating their homes, as this is the time of year fire departments across the nation see an increase in home fires due to dangerous heating equipment or unsafe practices.
Improper use or poorly maintained heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires and home fire deaths across the country.
Half of home heating equipment fires are reported during the months of December, January and February.
“Home fires caused by negligent use of heating equipment is easily preventable,” states State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover, Cal Fire-Office of the State Fire Marshal. “Taking the time to check your heating equipment and maintaining it correctly could make the difference in protecting your home, but most importantly your life. If the heat is provided using fossil fuels, there should be a working carbon monoxide alarm to help alert residents if a malfunction in their heating equipment occurs. And as always, make sure you have working smoke alarms throughout the home.”
With just these few simple safety steps, you can prevent most heating-related fires from happening:
– Every home should have a working carbon monoxide (CO) alarm to avoid the risk of CO poisoning
– Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove or portable space heater.
– Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
– Never use your oven to heat your home.
– Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.
– Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
– Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
To learn more about the dangers of carbon monoxide, watch the short, informative video above.
For more information on safe home heating visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Storm conditions have made a bridge at a Lakeport trailer park unsafe, Lakeport Police said late Thursday.
The agency said the bridge at the Will-O-Point Trailer Park on First Street is no longer passable by vehicles or pedestrians.
The city of Lakeport and the Lakeport Police Department have been responding to the situation due to concerns for the residents at the south end of the park.
The bridge and the property is under the authority of the State Housing and Community Development Department, which the city has been in communications with about the bridge issue, officials said.
City officials urged the public to drive with extra caution – and only when necessary – during these periods of severe weather.