Amid horror of Camp Fire, flooding is new worry in California

CHICO, Calif. — First, residents feared what might be wrought by an illtimed spark and furious 50 mph winds.

Now, nearly two weeks since murderous Camp Fire devoured a city and displaced thousands of residents, everyone here is again worrying what might be looming.

Prospects of heavy rain led the National Weather Service in Sacramento to issue a flash-flood watch for the charred areas in and near Paradise.

The advisory takes effect this afternoon and will last through Friday morning for areas in and around burn scars left by the Camp and Carr fires, along with other recent blazes across Northern California.

“This could quickly become a dangerous situation,” forecasters said Monday. “Residents, emergency responders (and) persons traveling within the burn area should remain alert and take action should heavy rain develop.”

The 151,000-acre Camp Fire, which began Nov. 8, has destroyed more than 11,700 homes, more than 470 businesses and thousands of barns, sheds, garages and other structures.

The confirmed death toll rose to 79 Monday evening, up from the previous 77.

But 699 names remain on the “missing” list.

Sheriff Kory Honea said it’s possible the exact death toll will never be known. The search for remains may not be completed before the rain, he said.

“As much as I wish that we could get through all of this before the rains come, I don’t know if that’s possible,” Honea said.

Kelly Boyer’s acoustic guitar is barely audible between the whir of traffic on Forest Avenue and the usual hustle at the Walmart parking lot, where he and dozens of others remain hunkered in a makeshift tent city.

Officials over the weekend set a Sunday afternoon deadline for people to leave the straw-strewn field and take buses to the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley, 28 miles away. Four o’clock came and went. By midday Monday, the makeshift shelter spot seen around the world was markedly smaller than its bustling peak late last week. Still, dozens of tents remained.

And many said they had no immediate plans to leave.

Boyer, a 48-year-old Paradise resident, said he drove down the hillside near his home as fire raced toward him. After a stint at another shelter, he came to the field near Walmart on Friday looking for some supplies — a field he drove by for decades.

He “would have never thought” he’d find himself living there indefinitely, he said.

Though not ideal, camping near Walmart was better than any shelter, he said.

Boyer strummed his guitar next to a stack of wood pallets outside of his orange Coleman tent. He planned to lay the pallets inside the tent, making a floor that’ll keep him off the ground when the rains come.

Tarps distributed by Monday afternoon would the roof.

Signs affixed to bulletin boards at the camp encouraged people to wash their hands to help stem the spread of illness, especially Norovirus. The list of the missing was pinned to the board along with details about other shelters in the area.

“We’re just trying to keep people dry and safe,” said Molly Roberts, one of the volunteers handing out tarps and helping organize donated goods.

Like many other volunteers, she stressed that those looking to help should donate their time or their money — not more stuff. The piles of donated clothes and books will be ruined when the rain starts and do more harm than good.

Roberts, who lives in Chico, pushed back against calls to disband the tented community in an area where housing is already tight.

“The reason there are people camping in a Walmart parking lot,” Roberts said, “is because they have nowhere else to go.” volunteers help fortify