Neighborhoods underwater after extreme flooding in San Jose

Thousands of San Jose residents and city officials are facing a massive cleanup after overnight flooding along Coyote Creek prompted emergency evacuations in neighborhoods along the stream.

About 480 homes were ordered evacuated in low-lying Rock Springs and police officers went door-to-door advising residents at three mobile home parks near the Coyote Creek to seek higher ground, city spokesman David Vossbrink said.

A family who did not leave in time had to be rescued by boat.

Horses in Amit, Louisiana suffered serious chemical burns when they were trapped in flood water last September.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for sections of the Mokelumne, San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers. “They said it was going to flood a little, that’s it, but they didn’t tell us anything at all that this was going to happen”, said Janet Martinez.

Even though the rain has stopped for now, the flooding in California continues to wreak havoc on residents across the state, and has taken the lives of at least 8 people.

“They are being decontaminated because this is polluted water”, San Jose fire Capt. Matt Low told reporters.

Some relief came on Wednesday morning as the Coyote Creek began to slowly recede after cresting on Tuesday evening.

The waters have forced the closure of a major highway, submerged cars and flooded homes.

“We’re just holding our own”, she said.

Employees from two Santa Clara County facilities have been evacuated due to flooding, the county said. They expanded the mandatory evacuation order to almost all residents East of Coyote Creek and West of Highway 101, except for the Bonita neighborhood.

Residents were directed to several evacuation shelters after a dramatic rescue operation in a flooded neighborhood throughout the day on Tuesday. “That means more flooding, more mudslides, more trees down – more of the same”, Anderson said. The ski area closed because of avalanche danger and continuing high winds, which averaged over 100 miles per hour Tuesday morning. Meteorologists said the storms were spawned by an “atmospheric river” bringing moisture from the Pacific Ocean. The flooding caused a full closure of all northbound traffic until early in the morning February 22.

Although the storm eased Tuesday, the weather service warned “forecast models are now hinting at a return to unsettled conditions late in the week and into the upcoming weekend”.