California floods turn town and wine country into islands as thousands rush to evacuate

An estimated 2,000 buildings have been inundated by swampy waters as even more people are forced to evacuate

Historic floods across northern California have turned the state’s wine country communities and an entire town into islands as emergency crews journeyed by boat to save residents from their destroyed homes and businesses.

An estimated 2,000 buildings were inundated by flooding from the Russian River in wine country north of San Francisco, which crested at more than 46 feet (14 meters) on Wednesday night, according to Sonoma County officials. The water is not expected to return to the river’s banks until late Thursday.

The river frequently floods in rainy weather but it had not reached that level in 25 years. The estimated 2,000 inundated buildings were mainly in and around the community of Guerneville, said Briana Khan, a Sonoma County spokeswoman.

“Guerneville has essentially become an island,” Ms Khan said. The town’s sweets became seas of muddy brown water. The nearby town of Monte Rio also was isolated when roads leading to it were swamped.

The river was one of several in Northern California that was engorged by days of rain from western US storms that also dumped heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada, throughout the Pacific Northwest and into Montana, where Governor Steve Bullock issued an emergency order to help keep up the supply of heating fuel amid frigid temperatures.

Still, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that officials received no calls for help overnight from hundreds of people who stayed in their homes instead of heeding evacuation orders.

No injuries were reported in the Guerneville area and by Wednesday night the rain had eased but about 3,500 people in two dozen river communities remained under evacuation orders.

Several areas in California set record-high rainfall totals, including nearby Santa Rosa, which had nearly 8 inches (20 centimetres) of rain in one day.

The often-waterlogged Venado weather station 5 miles (8 kilometres) from Guerneville recorded more than 20 inches (50 centimetres) of rain in 48 hours.

Dozens of people were rescued from cars that became stranded after drivers tried to cross flooded roads.

The Associated Press contributed to this report