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GUERNEVILLE — A California town north of San Francisco is accessible only by boat after the rain-swollen Russian River overflowed its banks and inundated it overnight, authorities said Wednesday.
“Guerneville is officially an island,” the Sonoma Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, adding that all roads leading to it are covered by water from the Russian River, which was forecast to swell more throughout the day.
The river topped 32 feet Tuesday evening and it could crest at more than 46 feet by Wednesday night, which would be the highest level in about a quarter-century.
Elsewhere in the area, several people had to be rescued from cars stranded while motorists tried to drive through flooded roads, including a woman who was rescued by boat.
“We’ve spent lots of time pulling people out of cars that drive into the water and they get stuck and we got to pull them out,” Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Barman told KTUV-TV. “I wish people would pay attention to signs that say ‘flooded do not drive into the water.'”
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