NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FROM HEAVY RAIN IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY TO FLOODWATERS IN AMADOR COUNTY. SOME COMMUNITIES ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WENT THROUGH HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING ALL THIS WEEK. WE’RE LOOKING BACK TO SHOW YOU HOW AGENCIES ARE NOW CHANGING THEIR PROTOCOLS BECAUSE OF THOSE EVENTS. TONIGHT, KCRA 3’S GULSTAN DART STARTS OUR COVERAGE WITH A LOOK AT HOW THOSE STORMS UNFOLDED. THIS IS WHERE THEY DO ALL THE RAINFALL FORECASTING. A LOT OF FACTORS GO INTO FORECASTING. SO HE’S LOOKING AT A LOT OF YOU KNOW WEATHER MODELS AND OTHER INFORMATION TO KIND OF GET A SENSE OF WHAT’S GOING ON OUT THERE AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, THIS TEAM IS PREDICTING RIVER LEVELS STATEWIDE. IT CAN BE COMPLICATED. AND HYDROLOGIST BRETT WHITEN KNOWS THE ONLY THING CERTAIN IS UNCERTAINTY. STORMS DON’T ALWAYS PLAY OUT EXACTLY HOW WE HAVE THEM FORECAST. THIS IS THE SCENE HERE WITH THE FLOODING AND THE RUSHING WATERS. THERE ARE STILL TWO PEOPLE THAT ARE STRANDED OUT THERE ON DILLARD ROAD. THE TREE FELL ON TOP OF THIS CAR HERE. THIS IS THE MOST OUTAGES THAT WE HAVE SEEN ALL NIGHT. THIS EVENT WAS PRETTY ANOMALOUS IN TERMS OF HOW DIFFERENT THINGS PLAYED OUT COMPARED TO WHAT THE FORECAST WAS SHOWING NEW YEAR’S EVE, THE HEAVY RAIN STARTED WITH RISING CREEKS AND STREET FLOODING. IT’S JUST DESTROYING EVERYTHING. IT’S ALL UP UNDERNEATH THE HOUSE IN EL DORADO COUNTY, PEOPLE IN CAMERON PARK WERE TOLD TO GET OUT AS WATER RUSHED THROUGH SOME NEIGHBORHOODS. WE’RE EXPECTING IT TO BE SIMILAR AT MODERATE AT THE BEGINNING, AND THEN WE’RE REALLY KIND OF RAMP UP TOWARD THE END OF THE EVENT. BUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED WAS WE GOT INTENSE RAINFALL FROM THE BEGINNING BY THAT NIGHT IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY, WATER WAS. COVERING DILLARD ROAD IN THE WILTON AREA. WE STARTED GETTING THOSE HEAVY, HEAVY PERIODS OF INTENSE RAINFALL AND THEIR RIVER WAS RISING FASTER AND HIGHER THAN WHAT WE ANTICIPATED. UM, THAT’S LITERALLY WHEN WE WERE STARTING TO KIND OF GET CONCERNED. THE WIND PICKED UP WITH GUSTS OVER 60 MILES AN HOUR IN SOME SPOTS, TREES STARTED FALLING, AND BY TEN THAT NIGHT, MORE THAN 170,000 SMUD CUSTOMERS WERE IN THE DARK. THIS MASSIVE TREE CAUGHT IN THE POWER LINES HERE. NEW YEAR’S DAY HOMEOWNERS WOKE UP TO MORE FLOODING. THIS IS PROBABLY BECAUSE THIS IS PRETTY CLOSE TO THE RIVER. UM, SO THIS IS AN AREA, A HOUSE THAT PROBABLY HAS HAD, UM, GONE THROUGH THIS BEFORE. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST MARK FINAN FLEW OVER SOUTHEAST SACRAMENTO COUNTY IN LIVECOPTER3 THREE. THOSE ARE IN DEEP, MUDDY WATER. YEAH. IT’S. YEAH. LOOK AT LOOK AT THAT. CARS WERE STUCK IN THE WATER ALONG HIGHWAY 99, LEAVING FIRSTRILLIONESPONDERS SCRAMBLING. I’VE WORKED FOR THE COSUMNES FIRE DEPARTMENT OR PREVIOUSLY, THE ELK GROVE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR 21 YEARS. THIS IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FLOODING I’VE SEEN IN THIS AREA. THREE PEOPLE WERE FOUND DEAD FOLLOWING THE FLOODING. IT WAS AN EXTREME EVENT IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION, AND IT WAS IN THE RIVERS TO FALLING TREES. ALSO PROVED DANGEROUS IN SACRAMENTO AND SAN STOCKTON TREES CRUSHED CARS AND HOMES CLEAN UP AND REPAIRS WOULD TAKE MONTHS, WITH CREWS WOOD CHIPPING, HUGE MOUNDS OF TREES AT LAND PARK, FILLING IN BREACH LEVEES NEAR WILTON WITH BIG BOULDERS AND REPLACING HUNDREDS OF POWER POLES THAT WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEW YEAR, WE’RE STILL LOOKING AT LOW LEVELS IN THE COSUMNES, WIGHTON SAYS HE HAS ONE MAJOR TAKEAWAY, JUST THAT SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED. SOMETIMES THE FLOODS CAN EVOLVE VERY, VERY FAST. YOU KNOW THAT BE AWARE, BE COGNIZANT OF WHAT THE FORECASTS ARE LOOKING LIKE SO THAT YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, STAY UP, UP TO DATE ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE CHANGING THROUGHOUT THE EVENT. THIS WEEK IN OUR FIVE PART SERIES, STORM READY 2024, WE WILL LOOK AT THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM LAST JANUARY STORMS AND HOW THEY’RE NOW PROMPTING AGENCY IN THIS REGION TO MAKE CHANGES. PLUS NEW NUMBERS SHOWING THE HUGE SCOPE OF THOSE STORMS. AGAIN, OUR SERIES IS CALLED STORM READY 2024, AND YOU CAN SE