Little Good News as Flooding Wreaks Havoc in San Joaquin Valley

The reports were quick and grim at an all-hands-on-deck flood operations briefing Wednesday morning at the International Agri-Center in Tulare.

A bridge over Cross Creek in Kings County had just washed out at Houston Avenue south of Hanford, the CalTrans rep told dozens of emergency workers from fire, roads, rail, and water districts mostly from Kings and Tulare counties.

The meeting was organized by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire, which is coordinating with the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services to get a handle on widespread damage unfolding in the region after an onslaught of atmospheric rivers brought historic flooding starting on March 10.

Related Story: Woodlake Braces for More Flooding as Residents Demand Answers

• Train traffic was still paused as tracks along Highway 43 were surrounded by water and a status report wasn’t expected until Wednesday afternoon.
• Antelope Creek in Woodlake had popped up overnight and headed toward previously flooded homes but was diverted.
• Deer Creek continues to have “a lot of breaches” west of Highway 99, though water levels have receded a bit.
• A section of the north branch of the Tule River near Highway 99 just south of Avenue 184 that broke Tuesday afternoon was “holding.”
• And agencies were putting more law enforcement on Highway 43 to stop people from driving around barricades on the flooded-out roadway.

Corcoran declares state of emergency as waters rising to the north, south and east of town pic.twitter.com/YfLv5MwHoj

— SJV Water (@SJVWater) March 23, 2023

First responders, water managers, roads experts, and others crowd around a large map Wednesday to better understand where flood water is causing issues and where it’s likely headed. (SJV Water/Lois Henry)

While attention has been focused on flooding in southern Tulare and Kings counties, responders were urged not to forget about northwest Kings County where the Kings River is running at more than 7,800 cubic feet per second with Pine Flat reservoir approaching its capacity of 1 million acre-feet.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the lake held 784,000 acre-feet.

Another storm is expected next week, with another coming behind that one.

“We are in this for the long haul,” one speaker said.

A bridge has washed out a bridge at Cross Creek and Houston Avenue south of Hanford. pic.twitter.com/5vfP6Ew3DT

— SJV Water (@SJVWater) March 22, 2023

UPDATE: There will be NO investigation of who cut the Deer Creek banks March 18. Tulare Co. Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said his deputies haven’t even taken a report as there’s “no victim” and no evidence of a crime. pic.twitter.com/IOkVXyeCET

— SJV Water (@SJVWater) March 22, 2023

Corcoran area flooding cover infrastructure for California’s High-Speed Rail project. (Facebook/Tulare County SO)

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