Flooding in California, February 2 to 28, 1998

The following stages occurred in the lower Sacramento River system:Location: Period(s) above flood stage: Maximum Crest/Date:Cache Creek at Rumsey 2nd--3rd 2.2 feet above flood stage/3rdThe following stages occurred in the lower San Joaquin River system:Location: Period(s) above flood stage: Maximum Crest/Date:Tuolumne River at Modesto 4th 1.6 feet above flood stage/4thMokelumne River at Benson's Ferry 4th--5th 0.6 feet above flood stage/4thConsumnes River at Michigan Bar 3rd 1.2 feet above flood stage/3rdConsumnes River at McConnell 3rd--4th 0.6 feet above flood stage/4thDamage estimates are only from the following counties that had information available: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Yolo.In Yolo County, Cache Creek overflowed into some homes in the town of Woodland. Runoff from the Colusa Back Basin Drain backed up and flowed into the county. The resultant flooding cut off all access to the towns of Knights Landing and Zamora, flooding out 3 homes in Zamora. In Sacramento County, the Consumnes River threatened the town of Wilton, where levees broken by the January, 1997, flooding had not been repaired. Fortunately, flooding impact was minor.In Placer County, 4 homes in the city of Roseville and 1 home in the town of Granite Bay were inundation the 3rd. Nearby Yuba County lost 900 feet of levee on the Bear River.Solano County experienced significant damage. On the 2nd and 3rd, Interstate 80 near Fairfield was closed as floodwaters covered it to a depth of 15 inches. The first fatality mentioned occurred when a man attempted to cross flood waters on a bicycle. In the delta region, a number of islands protected by levees were endangered as the flows became heavy. Had the levees broken, this rich agricultural land would have been lost forever; since the levees were built, the land has subsided below sea level. Finally, in the city of Vallejo, 3 homes were lost to mud slides.San Joaquin County also suffered greatly. Flooding on Corral Hollow Creek, failed levees, and overflowing irrigation ditches flooded 20 homes in the city of Tracy. The town of Patterson was cut off from the rest of the world as roads flooded. A total of 103 homes were flooded county--wide. Crop losses were expected to be great. The second death occurred south of Tracy when floodwaters swept away a man on a hunting trip near Hospital Creek, after his truck got stuck.Preliminary estimates of crop losses for Stanislaus County alone total $3.5 million, while property damage was estimated at $2.5 million.