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Residents of a Northern California community were ordered to evacuate ahead of imminent flooding, and evacuation warnings were in place elsewhere in rural parts of the region on New Year’s Day after a powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of the state, breaching levees, snarling traffic, and closing major highways.
Even after the storm moved through, major flooding occurred in agricultural areas about 20 miles south of Sacramento, where rivers swelled beyond their banks and inundated dozens of cars along State Route 99. Emergency crews rescued motorists on New Year’s Eve into Sunday morning and the highway remained closed.
Sacramento County authorities issued an evacuation order late Sunday for residents of the low-lying community of Point Pleasant near Interstate 5, citing imminent and dangerous flooding. Residents of the nearby communities of Glanville Tract and Franklin Pond were told to prepare to leave before more roadways are cut off by rising water and evacuation becomes impossible.
“It is expected that the flooding from the Cosumnes River and the Mokelumne River is moving southwest toward I-5 and could reach these areas in the middle of the night,” the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services said earlier on Twitter Sunday afternoon. “Livestock in the affected areas should be moved to higher ground.
