Excerpt:
On Monday, as huge swaths of Central and Northern California were still assessing damage from a quick succession of storms last week, another winter rain pelted the region, triggering floods that claimed the life of a motorist and swept away a 5-year-old boy who was trying to cross a road with his mother. Conditions were so unsafe Monday afternoon that officials called off the search for the boy…
Debris slides closed part of Highway 17, the high-speed mountain road that connects San Jose and Santa Cruz, and so much rain fell so quickly that, in places, the San Lorenzo River rose over its banks. (National Weather Service data show that the river crested at about 24 feet around 8 a.m. and then receded as rain eased.)
Across Santa Cruz County, people posted pictures of felled trees, flooded cars and a collapsed bridge. In Felton Grove, the storm water rose so high it engulfed the entire metal pole of a stop sign, leaving only the red octagon, which appeared as if it were floating atop the muddy water. Rescuers zipped through inundated streets on a jet ski. They slowed in front of homes, asking if everyone was alright…
