By JUSTIN M. NORTON, Associated Press Writer
While homes and business places in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico 'went up in smoke' literally over the weekend due to the out of control fires burning in many places -- two small Texas towns were completely detroyed by fire -- California had a different side to the same destuctive coin.
Homeowners shoveled away mud and other debris and authorities worked to repair damaged levees Monday after a pair of storms flooded Northern California's wine country.
The rain let up over the hard-hit region and moved into Central and Southern California, drenching the Rose Parade for the first time since 1955 and threatening mudslides on hills stripped bare by last summer's wildfires.
Initial estimates put the damage throughout Northern California at more than $100 million. The storms were blamed for two deaths, both of them victims of falling trees.
The Russian River at Guerneville began receding after cresting at 41 feet -- 9 feet above flood stage -- but officials said it would probably not return to its banks until Tuesday morning, or maybe sometime Wednesday.
"When it goes down below its banks, that's when the real cleanup begins," Sonoma County spokesman Dan Levin said.
Hundreds of homes were flooded in the scenic community, he said. Live power lines were down throughout the area, and residents were warned to stay away. Telephone service was poor, or non-existent in most of the area.
The Marin County town of San Anselmo, north of San Francisco, sustained an estimated $40 million in damage when a creek inundated downtown under 4 feet of water and left a coating of mud on streets. Around 50 businesses were damaged. About two miles west in Fairfax, three homes were nearly wiped out by mudslides.
Water also receded in the heart of wine country along the Napa River, which rose out of its banks at the town of Napa and inundated several downtown blocks. Napa officials said some 600 homes and 150 businesses were flooded, and damage was estimated at $50 million.
There were no immediate reports of damage to wineries. Grape vines are largely dormant at this time of year, but a Napa official noted that "all this water certainly won't help the crop this year."
High water and wind-whipped waves threatened several levees, including at least two in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where water washing over the top of a levee at Collinsville forced 40 people from about 15 homes, Don Strickland of the Department of Water Resources said. In Novato, crews worked to repair a levee breach that flooded about a dozen homes, joined by emergency maintainence crews from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Rose Parade went off on schedule, but a clear poncho covered the white gown of Rose Queen Camille Clark and soggy wind bent spectators' umbrellas and snapped rain slickers. The crowds were thin.
"We came all this way, rain or shine, we can't go back now," said Ted Pettyjohn, 43, of Houston.
Hundreds of plastic ponchos for musicians and parade volunteers were ordered, horses were fitted with skid-resistant shoes, and float-builders rolled out sheets of plastic to protect orchids and other delicate flowers. The glue that holds decorations to the floats is waterproof and the floats are designed to withstand 50 mph winds.
Up to 6 inches of rain was forecast in the Southern California mountains, but authorities said there were no immediate reports of flooding or mudslides in areas where last summer's wildfires stripped vegetation from the hills.
Flooding and mudslides were reported throughout Santa Cruz County along the Central Coast.
Saturday's storm dumped 4 to 5 inches on much of Northern California, with Napa County getting up to 9 inches in less than 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Three inches more fell Sunday on Sonoma County.
Highway workers partially reopened Interstate 80 through the Sierra Nevada, where a landslide blocked the major east-west route on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the Sierra, however, heavy snow fell Monday and several avalanches closed U.S. 395, the main north-south route along the eastern side of the mountain range.
Mammoth Mountain reported 3 feet of new snow overnight, with several more feet expected during the day, and the ski resort was closed.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
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