Through McKenna’s Lens: Flooding Across Humboldt from Ferndale to Arcata
An aerial view shows vehicles carefully navigating the flooded road near Fernbridge on Friday, as the Eel River breached its banks. [All photos by Mark McKenna]
Water covering the lower end of Hawks Hill Road in Loleta while a sign points out the obvious.
The Eel River crested at 23.67 feet as of 1 p.m. on Friday, November 22, exceeding flood stage and spilling into surrounding lowlands.
Sage Road in Ferndale.
In Ferndale, water from the river filled fields near the town, created temporary lakes that reflected the skies above. Sage Road experienced flooding.
Blue sky reflected in the waters covering Cannibal Island Road.
The Fernbridge area also saw its share of flooding, with the Eel River overflowing into low-lying areas.
The Eel River breached its banks at Fernbridge
Despite the river breaching its banks, impacts to homes and businesses were limited.
Another view near Fernbridge.
Given the storm’s intensity the flooding wasn’t surprising.
Water filled fields near Jacoby Creek on Friday.
Cannibal Island Road in Loleta was completely covered in areas.
Vehicles navigating Cannibal Island Road in Loleta.
Closer to Arcata, Old Arcata Road near Bayside became a watery obstacle course as drivers navigated their vehicles through floodwaters from Jacoby Creek. Drivers were forced to create waves as they made their way along the submerged roadway.
Vehicles on Old Arcata Road traverse the floodwaters of Jacoby Creek on Friday near Bayside.
Local officials continue to monitor river levels and urge residents to avoid flooded areas for their safety. Though this round of storms appears to be subsiding, showers are expected through Tuesday.
Longhorns and birds find higher ground amid the flooded pastures of Jackson Ranch Road in Arcata on Friday, a peaceful scene amidst the aftermath of the storms.
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Pretty sure the 7th picture down is actually a property on Bayside across from the animal rescue just north of the Bayside cutoff
Yep, It was for sale last year.
You are right. We fixed that.
You all are always on top of it!
Thanks for sharing great pictures
Mark had so many more. It was brutal to choose.
Great pics!
Nice photos
They should dredge out the salt river near Ferndale. It would help with the draining etc. In the 70’s it used to flow pretty good. I might not stop the flooding but might help and get things drained faster.
I wish someone took an arial shot of the new “lake” between Centerville Rd and Port Kenyon Rd outside Ferndale. It’s pretty impressive but I sure feel sorry for the ranchers who had to move their livestock and equipment.
residents in ferndale dredge out Williams creek literally with their own hands. They got a sediment accumulation problem that needs to be dealt with upstream.
It’s been in rehab for years now. Dredging it wont do much when the whole valley floor is flooded; nowhere to drain. Not to mention it all getting backed up 2x a day at high tides. It might help as long as the Eel stays within it’s banks but once it goes over, it won’t help any.
there was an effort to do that (Humboldt RCD with State Coastal Conservancy and other funding) and they completed phase 1 of the project on the downstream end, but couldn’t get landowners to cooperate on the upstream part of it – until they do, Salt River will continue to be clogged in the upper end and will flood frequently
Remember:
A car is not a boat.
Thanks!
The second picture is not John Helt Road, it is the lower end of Hawks Hill Road.
You’re correct. We fixed that.
Good job Dora. A true Loleta Bottoms girl!
Same driving rules apply during floods as they do during normal times. Especially no tailgating.
Especially if the water is up to your tailgate.
I once watched a VW Rabbit make it through knee-deep water by tailgating behind a large pickup.
Not saying I’d recommend it.
But it was pretty cool to watch.
One surprising thing to me was a drive past Redwood Acres yesterday. A break in the weather meant a trip to town. Obviously many other people felt the same because the stores were crowded.
The parking lot across Harris was filled with utility trucks. Must have been over a hundred of them at that moment and not all PG&E colors. The sign called it a “PG&E staging” area. And another sign pointed people to “Contractor Amenities.”
I had seen such a thing for CalFire during big wild fires but this was the first time I became aware that utility companies were reacting in such an organized way to the weather forecasts. Maybe even the grocery stores took steps because it too was filled with various suppliers restocking shelves. It was just something that I never considered, being preoccupied like the farmers mentioned above, with my own weather related activities, that lots of businesses were doing the same.
Not to be overly sentimental but your comment reminds me of Mr. Roger’s mother saying, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Thank you for reminding us.
Yes all those people get paid, but doing a job well is being a helper.
PG&E is the largest Utility in the Nation. Not State the Nation…. They have always catered well to Linemen.
They also Contract Linemen from across the Nation. It’s a Brotherhood. IBEW
(International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) They’ve as far as my Knowledge always been Organized!! Staging and Taking Care of Their Work Force! PG&E goes above and beyond. Union Life is a Great Life! Don’t be Fooled do Your Homework.🫡💪🇺🇸
Contrary to your rosy comments, PG&E is a predatory company focused on executive compensation and stockholder returns with little consideration for customer service but it wasn’t always this way.
Back in the good old days PG&E had sufficient permanent staff to repair storm damage so that nearly all outages were repaired and service restored within 2 or 3 days at most, instead of 2 or 3 weeks.
They’ve been forced to hire outside contractors, some that travel great distances, but have learned the greater the cost, the greater the profit since the supine CPUC rubber stamps passing all costs onto the ratepayers along with a fixed % tacked on for profit.
The line clearance program is a super expensive joke being played on the ratepayers and the environment as each individual contractor appears free to set their own standard for the work to be done.
The result is one contractor will insist on taking out mature redwoods, including in parks, although redwoods do not pose a fire risk, while other contractors will leave decadent cottonwoods, notorious for dropping limbs in late summer and fall, overhanging lines.
The costs for the work, no matter how opportunistic or incompetent, are passed along to the ratepayers.
Back to the good old days: the gas division would routinely do safety checks on your appliances and do re-lights upon request all at no extra charge.
They were not forced to hire contractors the decided to hire them for many reasons mostly predatory. First they can put any wrongdoing on the contractor. Second they don’t have to pay retirement to employees when they retire. Predatory is an understatement. How about criminal.
It’s been quite some time but I seem to remember relighting services in newspaper ads before and after big storms. Not anymore. It takes work just to get a live person on the phone that isn’t from some foreign call center, if not some weird chat bot.
not to be racist or nationalistic or anything like that, but I have at times had difficulty communicating with the tree trimmers, as none of them spoke English and my Spanish isn’t too good. They limbed a cedar tree I had planted on my property – near the corner where there was also a PG&E pole, but definitley on my proerty and not within the right of way. The next time they showed up I gave them a piece of my mind – how dare they come onto my property and destroy the finely pruned tree I had been nurturing for 30 years?!?! I don’t think they understood my words but they definitely understood my tone. Next time I’ll have my shot gun loaded with rock salt at the ready to chase away any trespassers
Public Grift & Electric is the largest by total revenue and Kw/h rates, but as far as anything else, it is not the largest. You must be an investor to hold those vampires in such high regard.
PGE field workers are heroes, Employees make the the union not vice versa.
I was driving south from a visit to my sister in New England to my home in North Carolina two days before hurricane Helene hit. There were convoys of independent utility compnay type vehicles also headed south to pre-position ahead of the storm. As bad as things got, it would have been worse if we didn’t have a ton of out-of-state help already in place when it hit, as both freeways from WNC to the outside world (I-26 & I-40) were closed by storm impacts. This has been SOP anywhere I’ve lived that was subject to major tantrums by Mother Nature.
I love all the rain. I hope we don’t lose many trees. The rivers and streams need the cleansing and the fish need the fresh water. Great photos~
Thanks dems
Mad River at the first water supply well. Most of the year you can walk out to the structure.
—
A water depth scale is printed on the concrete.
—
This is Flood Stage… but there is about 6′ to go to the top of the scale.
Last year in springtime it almost made it to the top.
At that point, flood water almost came up to the parking lot at that site.
Ugh, I remember being sent that yesterday and I forgot it…
I am surprised the river jumped up that fast. But I also didn’t think I was that big of a deal. It was three days of rain. The pictures are great though.
The 80s this was stereo typical. I grew up thinking it was normal. Looked just like this.
I’ve only been around here about 15 years and this feels pretty normal to me. There was a couple years of drought in there but otherwise this tracks with what ive experienced as a humboldt county winter
I’ve lived here for 18 years and I’d say that this a every 3 years type of storm.
That’s about right:
“El Niño and La Niña: Frequently asked questions” https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/el-ni%C3%B1o-and-la-ni%C3%B1a-frequently-asked-questions
“El Niño–Southern Oscillation” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93Southern_Oscillation
So its wayworse on the coast. I drove from mad river to fortuna. We had no wind. Got to Charlotte and the trees are whipping around. Windy and gusty in fortuna. Drive home no wind what so ever just some rain. Some sort of low pressure is holding so low this storm is battering the coast line the hardest.
Not a worry !
Fantastic photos! And thank you for your coverage.
I was wondering if Mark is related to Ryan and Jeremy