Flooding strikes wildfire region

DOWNPOUR HITS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA SCARRED BY WILDFIRE

Flash flooding hit a wildfire-scarred area of Northern California on Thursday, forcing officials to quickly deploy swift water rescue teams to save people stranded in vehicles after a downpour near the Paradise area, officials said.

It was not clear how many people were trapped, but authorities received reports of flooding on roads and of downed trees and utility poles.

“The roots and the bottoms of the utility poles are just kind of swimming,” said Rick Carhart, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “It rained really hard in a short amount of time and this whole thing came up really quickly.”

The storm brought 1 1/2 inches of rain in an hour, toppling trees and trapping motorists in flooded roads downstream, said National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Shoemaker.

“This is heavy rain in a short period of time and that’s the worst thing that can happen in the burn scar,” he said.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Department ordered evacuations but could not say how many people were affected. The water rescues were in an area of Chico, which is downhill from Paradise, and a city where many of the wildfire evacuees have been staying since the town of 27,000 was destroyed just three weeks ago by a deadly wildfire.

Butte County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Meyertold television stations KHSL/KNVN in Chicothat about a dozen homes were affected and rafts were being used to rescue people from water that was a couple of feet deep.

“It is serious. The water is coming up so we want to make sure we get everybody out that we can,” Meyer told the station.