Emergency Alert Sent to Residents Along Van Duzen

Residents in the area of the Van Duzen River received an alert at 9:54 a.m. from the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services. According to Selena Zorrilla-Mendoza, a spokesperson for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the alert stated,

Van Duzen river expected to flood this afternoon. Highway 36 closures likely. Do not drive into flooded roadways. Call 911 for emergencies and Red Cross (1-800-RED-CROSS) with shelter needs. http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/

The graph at the California Nevada River Forecast Center for the Van Duzen River shows it is expected to reach flood stage just prior to 4 p.m. today. Models predict that it will crest about 8 p.m. over two feet above flood stage.

Van duzen flood graph

 

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15 Comments
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G-MAS
Guest
G-MAS
7 years ago

Oh dear.please take care everyone.

Fred Mangels
Guest
7 years ago

Ahhh….the Mighty Van Duzen River, awakened from its summer time slumber.

d
Guest
d
7 years ago

I kind of don’t understand why everybody is in danger…if the rivers were so low due to drought why is everybody in danger…is this really THAT much more water than what use to be a normal rainfall? no disrespect just don’t understand…

Heather. R
Guest
Heather. R
7 years ago
Reply to  d

In danger due to increased slides and trees falling! Also a lot of roads are not passable due to flooding. Also the storm is making driving very dangerous!.

Put Employee parking here? Well, ok....
Guest
Put Employee parking here? Well, ok....
7 years ago
Reply to  d

Not only because sometimes people forget how fast it can rise, but that it actually rises. Lots of times those flood plains get used for storage of items, and garbage, that get forgotten. The kind of things that become dangerous once moving with the power of the flood. Plus, it’s been a few years since we’ve had a flow like this one: I bet there are lots more trees and branches waiting to be picked up by the flood than folks realise. Check out some of the clips on youtube of flash flooding. Yowza. More like lahars. As for folks forgetting that “flood areas” are needed for flooding, then using the area like there’ll never be a problem, watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxAUoXTUtS8

T
Guest
T
7 years ago
Reply to  d

it really is that much more water – if flood stage is 17ft and the river is running at 3ft then that is 14 feet higher than normal. Normal rainfall level rarely takes it over the 17 foot mark. And this is supposed to peak at like 19ft… that’s considerably over the road level through a lot of that area – Grizzly Creek will likely be flooded as well.

Dan Fuller
Guest
Dan Fuller
7 years ago
Reply to  T

Not to mention in Carlotta by the VFD Hall as well, I’m sure!!! If it floods at “Grizzly Creek” actually closer to Root Creek, but WTF ever, anyway it WILL be flooded in Carlotta as well!!! I speak from 30 plus years of driving this dangerous at times road!!!

Dot
Guest
Dot
7 years ago
Reply to  d

Rivers rise & fall rapidly. It depends on what’s happening in the moment – not over time. The Van Duzen came up 10 feet on Sunday and flooded east of Dinsmore. Then dropped back down yesterday – 8 to 10 feet. Today it’s coming back up again. The ground is saturated and all this rain is runoff. Resevoirs and lakes, however, take longer to recover from drought conditions. And, while we’re looking good up here, SoCal is not so hydrologically blessed from this storm – for them the drought may well continue. Especially if there is not a good snowpack.

HOJ in Training
Guest
HOJ in Training
7 years ago
Reply to  Dot

Last week in Dinsmore, we had a foot of snow and then a monster amount of rain hit by the weekend, which melted the snow and created flooding much worse than yesterday’s action, yet there was no emergency alert warning for that storm.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  d

December was one of the wettest on record. It has continued raining. Weather cycles come and go. Summer-winter, Drought-flood. The four-year drought may be ending. Google Calif. weather records, 1860 to present.

Blue dog
Guest
Blue dog
7 years ago
Reply to  d

It doesn’t matter how low a river is. What matters is how high it gets and how fast it is moving. Creeks that feed rivers start to back up which causes flooding. If you get a warmer rain pattern, melting snow, along with water releases from dams and high tides, it increases flooding. If you are new to the area and have not been through a couple of these flooding events, then you may want to pay close attention. Old timers know conditions can change fast.

6th year resident
Guest
6th year resident
7 years ago
Reply to  d

The rivers up here rise quickly in the winter with lots of rainfall, regardless of summer conditions. Essentially that is what the rivers are for-they are drainage pipes for nature. Van Duzen is one of the smaller rivers and usually floods more often than the others, even though it usually has the lowest water levels throughout the year. Eel river is more susceptible to flooding as well. It just depends how much rain and snow melt there is in comparison to the river’s embankment(?) height. Also, that’s what all these floodplains are for that most people are farming on these days. Don’t be alarmed, this is just mother nature doing her thing! The redwoods love it 🙂

Pickachu
Guest
Pickachu
7 years ago

comment image

That’s what happens when people forget that water is deep and you need air to run an internal combustion engine.

Veterans friend
Guest
Veterans friend
7 years ago

I live in Myers Flat and I got that phone call too….