Parts of California recovering after severe flooding

KERNVILLE, Calif. (KBAK) — Flooding and heavy rain in California wreaked havoc across the state over the weekend, prompting evacuation orders and warnings as officials begged motorists to stay off deluged roadways.

In the heart of Kernville, the weather has done some severe damage to most parts of the city, including Camp Kernville, where many vacation homes were flooded. Many of those homeowners are without insurance to cover the cost of damages.

The president of Kernville Chamber of Commerce, Orion Sanders, said that people want to be left alone with their properties to figure out next steps.

“I would say don't come down to these areas right now. There's still a lot of damage that people that own these places are still coming down and salvaging what they can so don't come down here and interfere with them as much as you possibly can," he said.

Many damages are caused from water overflowing from the Kern River.

Debris covered many of the outdoor seating areas at Riverside Park and fallen trees were surrounding the park, making it a danger zone for people to enter.

Gary Ananian, president of the Kern River Conservancy, said while these winter storms may be coming to an end, warmer weather and a high snow pack could lead to even more flooding in the future.

If you are coming over to Kernville, I highly suggest for you to stay away from the river at the moment, even if this storm water does subside a little bit, we still have a record snowpack to deal with," he said.

Meanwhile, officials said a breach in the Pajaro River's levee is about 100 feet (30.48 meters) wide. Crews had gone door to door Friday afternoon to urge residents to leave before the rains came but some stayed and had to be pulled from floodwaters early Saturday.

This week's storm marked the state’s 10th atmospheric river of the winter, storms that have brought enormous amounts of rain and snow to the state and helped lessen the drought conditions that had dragged on for three years.

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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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