>> WE ARE NOW TWO YEARS INTO A DROUGHT HAVING JUST COME OUT OF A FIVE-YEAR DROUGHT. >> IT IS JUST JAW-DROPPING, WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES. >> AFTER YEARS OF CONCERN ABTOU CALIFORNIA RUNNING DRY. WITHES RERVOIRS REACHING HISTORIC LOWS, IT CAN BE HARD TO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE WHEN THE WATER WAS STILL HIGH. >> WATCHING THAT LEVY JUST ERODED AS WE WCHAT IT. >> THERE ARE MUDSLIDES, THERE’S FLOODING. >> BUT ON NEW YEAR’S DAY 1997, THE RAIN -- >> OFFICIALS HAVE OPENED THE FLOODGATES. >> LIKE,HE WN IS IT GOING TO TURN? >> THIS IS A SPECIAL REPORT. >> WT YOUHA ARE SEEING ON YOUR TELEVISION IS EXACTLY WHY WE ARE NOT BROADCASTING "DAYS OF OUR LIVES." ISTH IS A VERYAD B THING GOING ON IN OUR REGION RIGHT NOW. >> HAVE YOU ERVE STOOD HERE AND SEEM THIS SITE BEFORE? >> NO. MIX MY STOMACH TURN. >>HY W THE DAMAGE WAS SO DRAMATIC. COURTS WATER IS UP ABOVE THE DOORJAMB. THERE’S ANOTHER MOBILE HOME PARK BEYOND THAT THAT HAS GONE UNDER. >> WHAT HAS CHANGED AND IF IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN. DAN A KCRA 3 SPECIAL REPORT, THE FLOODS OF 1990 SEVEN. TONIGHT, EXACTLY 25 YESAR LATER, WE’RE LOOKING BACK ON THOSE FLOODS THAT IMPACTED ALMOST EVERY COMMUNITY IN OUR AREA. WE ARE ALSO LOOKING FORWARD AS TO IF THIS COULD HAPPEN AGAIN AND THE NEW SAFEGUARDS IN PLEAC IN CASE IT DOES. COMING UP, WE LLWI HEAR FROM THE HELICOPTER PILOT WHO SPENT UP TO 14 HOURS A DAY GETTING A BETTER PICTURE FOR OUR VIEWERS, AND YOU WILL ALSO HEAR FROM A RETIRED ENGINEER WITH A DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES OVER WHAT HE CALLS THE MOST DRATAMIC FLOOD OF HIS CAREER, BUT WE WILL START WITH THE IMPRESSEIV GEOGRAPHY OF IT ALL. 25 YEARS AGO TONIGHTIT, WAS NEW YEAR’S EVE, AND IT HAD BEEN A VERY WARM AND MUGGYAY D THROUGHOUT THE AREA. SACRAMENTO ESTABLISHED A RECORD HI TGHHAT DAY BY HITTING7 6 DEGREES. WE DID NOT SEE THE SUN ALL DAY. IT WAS A RAINY, MISTY KDIN OF DAY, NOT THE STOR OF DAY YOU MIGHT EXPECT TO HIT A RECORD HIGH. YOU KNEW SOMETHING KIND OF WEIRD WAS GOING ON, AND IT WAS. IT WAS A HUGE WHAT WE CALLED AT THE TIME PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. THISS I A SATELLITE PHOTO FROM NEW YEAR’S EVE 25 YEARS AGO. YOU CAN SEE THE HUGE AMOUNT OF MOISRETU THAT STRETCHED ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN TO HAWA.II AGAIN, WE USED TO CALLT I THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. NOW IT ISND A ATMOSPHERIC RIVER. EITHER WAY, THESE SORTS OF SITUATIONS BNGRI HUGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN, D ANTHIS WAS A DOOZY. BUCKS LAKE RECEIVED 42.16 INCHES OF RAIN OVERHE T COURSE OF THE STORM, A LITTLE BIT FARTHER TO THE SOUTH OF BLUE CANYON. AT ONE POINT, WE PICKED UP ALMOST A FOOT OF RAIN IN LE SSTHAN 24 HOURS. ON THE FEATHER RIVER, THAT WATER CAME DOWN INTO KELA OROVILLE, AND THAT PROMPTED HUGE RELEASES FROM LAKE OROVILLE, AND THOSE RELEASES, BECAUSE THEY WERE SO BIG, PROMPTED AN EVACUATION OF THE TOWN. A LOT OF PEOPLE GOT OUT IN THE NIGHT. LUCKILY, OROVILLE WAS SREPAD A MAJOR FLOOD, BUT WE STILL HAD HUGE FWSLO COMING DOWN THE RIVER. ANOTHER DAY LATER, WE HAD TO EVACUATE MARYSVILLBEE CAUSE OF THOSE GHHI FLOWS, AND A COUPLE DAYS LATER, THE FLOW ON THE RIVERAS W JUST TOO BIG FOR THE LEVEES. WE HAD A HUGE BREAK ON THE LEVY. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. IN THAT PART OF THE FLOOD, THREE PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES, AND IT WAS NOT JUST VELEE BREAKS ON THE RIVER. WE ALSO HAD A LEVY BREAK ON THE UTSOHERN BYPASS, SO JUST TO THE WEST OF MARYSVILLE, THE TOWN MERIDIAN WAS ALSO FLOODED. MUCH OF SUTTER COUNTY DDI GO UNDERWATEREC BAUSE OF THAT LEVY BREAK. DESPERATE MEASURES WERE MADE TO TRY TO SAVE ETH TOWN, BUT THERE WAS EXTENSIVE FLOODING IN THAT AREA. A LITTLE FARTHER TO THE EAST ON HIGHWAY 50, THE AMERICAN RIVER WAS ALSO RUNNGNI VERY HIGH, AND WITH ALL OF THAT WATER, WE HAD A HUGE MUDSLIDE NEAR THE TOWN OF WHITEHALL THAT CAME DOWN, COVERED THE ROAD, ACTUALLY COVERED THE RERIV FOR A WHILE, AND HIGHWAY 50 WAS CLOSED FOR A NUMBER OF DAYS. THAT FLOW COMING DOWN THE AMERICAN RIVER WENT INTO FOLSOM LAKE. INTERESTINTHG AT EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD THE FLOODGATES OPEN, AT ONE POT,IN FOLSOM LAKE WAS ACTUALLY RISING BY A FOOT AN HOUR, ENVE THOUGH THE FLOODGATES WERE OPEN. IT WAS A HUGE INFLOW INTO THE LAKE. FARTHER SOUTH, WE HAD NUMEROUS BREAKS. WE SET A RECORD RFO FLOW ON THE RIVER. FOR A WHILE, WE HAD HIGHWAY 99 AND I-FIVE BOTH CLOSE BECAUSE OF FLOODING. A LOT OF SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO COUNTY DID SEE FLOODING. ON THE SAN JOAQUIN BASIN, WE ALSOAW S HUGE FLOWS. THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 LEVY BREAKS ON THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER THAT ALSO BROUGHT FLOODING TOO MUCH OF SAN JOAQUIN UN,TYCO INCLUDING MUCH OF THE TOWN OF MANTECA. ON THE TUOLUMNE RIVER, HUGE FLOWS COMING DOWN THIS RIVER. WE HAD RECORD FLOWS MINGCO IN. IT WAS TOPPED FOR THE FIRST TIME. A RECORD FLOW FLOWING THROUGH DOWNTOWN MODESTO BECAUSE A RECORD LEVEL AT MODESTO. THERE WAS FLOODING IN THE TOWN OF MODESTO AS LLS AWE ON DRY CREEK ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER, AND A LITTLE BIT TO THE EAST FROM THERE ON MERCED RIVER, ANOTHER RECORD FLOW HERE. THE MERCED RIVER WAS A RECORD FLOWING THROUGH YOSEMITE. THERE WERE 23 HUNDRED GUESTS IN ETH VALLEY AT THAT TIME CELEBRATING NEW YEAR’S EVE. THEY WERE TRAEDPP IN THE VALLEY. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE WAS DONE TO PROPERTY THERE INCLUDING CAMPSITES, AND THERE WAS STILL A MARKER IN THE VALLEY THAT SHOWED THE RECORD HIGH. >> WHEN I SIT REHE AND IT IS DOING THIS AT THE TOP, I’M LIKE, OK, TIME TO LEAVE. >> WHEN THE FLOODS HIT, MANY PELEOP LEFT THEIR HOMES WITH ONLY WHAT THEY COULD CARRY. HELICOPTERS AND BOATS WERE OUT RESCUING FAMILIES WHO WERE TRAPPED, AND SOME DID NOT GET OUT IN TIME. NINE PEOPLE DIED. FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE, IT WAS A FRANTIC AND SCARY TIME. >> WE JUST WAITED TOO LONG TO GET OUT AND GOT STUCK. >> WAS THE WERAT COMING QUICKER THAN YOU ANTICIPATED? >> YES, VERFAY ST. >> AS THE WATER STARTED RISING, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO CAPTURE THE DAMAGE FROM STANNGDI IN JUST ONE LOCATION. THE BEST WAY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOINONG WAS FROM THE AIR. IN 1997, MICHAEL KIDD WASHE T PILOT OF LIVECOPTER3. >> I HAD SEEN A LOOFT STUFF, BUT I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. >> I WANT TO CHECK WITH MICHAEL KIDD WHO HAS BEEN FLYING AROUND CHECKING WATER LEVELS FOR US. >> IT WAS AMAZGIN LIKE LOOK HERE, I’M GETTINAG CALL . THEN GO LOOK HERE. IT WAS EVERYWHERE. >> IN THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE FLOOD, THE VIEWS SHOWED LEVEES CRUMBLING. >> THIS IS MAYBE ONE OF OUR FIRSACT TUAL BAKS.RE THIS IS UPSTREAM FROM WILTON ON THE RTHNO SIDE OF THE RIVER THIS TIME. THIS IS AN AREA WHERE WE WEER WATCHING PEOPLE SANDBAG AND SANDBAG. IN FT,AC THEY HAD A BULLDOZER THAT STILL REMAINS, AND THE RIVER GOT THE BEST OF THEM. >> THE NATIONAL GUARD MAKING A RESCUE ON TWIN CITIES ROAD. >> THIS IS TAKING PLACE ON THE COSUMNES RIVER. SOMEONE TRAPPED ON TOP OF THAT PICKUP TRUCK. >> AND THE AMERICAN RIVER RUNNING NEAR THE TOPS OF THE LEVY. >> THAT’S NEAR THE PARK ON THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR SCENRE AND THE CAL POEX AREA ACTUALLY OUT OF FREAM THERE ON THE RHTIG SIDE, BUT THE RIVER EXTREMELY WIDE. AT THIS DISTANCE, CANNOT FIT IT ALL INTO THE CAMERAERE. H VERY WIDE FROM THIS POINT. >> IT WAS THE MORNING OF JANUARY 3 THAT WAS THE MOST DEVASTATIN G.>> EVEN THOUGH WE HAD A FEW DA LEADING UP TO ATTH AND I HAD SEEN SOME REALLY AMAZING THINGS WITH THE FLOODING, I DON’T THKIN I WAS READY TO EXPECT TO SEE THAT. >>T IIS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT. TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELF, A VERY WIDE BREAK HERE IN THE LEVY. >> IF YOUAD H KNOWN YOU WEER GOING TO WAKE UP AND SEE THAT TODAY, IT IS LIKE WOW, THISS I MY NEIGHBORHOOD. >> WHOEVER WAS TRAPPED THERE -- I MEAN, THERES I NOT EVEN A TREE TO CLING TO DOWN THERE. IT IS JUST BRU.SH >> WHILE JANUARY 3 WAS THE MOST DISRUPTIVE IT, ALSO BROUGHT A BRIGHT SPOT TO FLOOD HAVE BEEN WARY CALIFORNIA. ONE OF THE HOMES THAT HAD BEEN FLOODED HAD A DOG STUCK ONHE T ROOF, SURROUNDED BY RISING FLOODWATERS. WE CAME TO KNOW THE DOG WAS CALLED RODEO. AS IT WASBOUT A TO GET DARK, MICHAEL AND HIS PHOTOGRAPHER DECIDED TO TAKE ACTION. MICHAEL LANDED ONE SKID ON THE ROOF OF THE HOME WHILE THE PHOTOGRAPHER PULLED OUTSIDE. >> THE DOG DOES NOT HAVE MUCH LONGER AND YOU KWNO WITH THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS. >> HOW DANGEROUSAS W THAT, TO BE LANDING A SKID ON A HOUSE OR BALANCING A SKID ON A HOUSE. >> WELL, DEPENDS ON THE PILOT. [LAUGHTER] >> RODEO WAS RESCUED FROM THE ROOF AND REUNITED WITH HIS FAMILY THAT EVENING. >> HOW YOU DOING? >> YEAH, IT FELT REALLY GOO D.>> THE EFFORT TO FIGHT AND CONTROL THE FODLO OF 1987 CAME FROM MANY STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES, BUT AT THE CENTER OF ALL THE DECISIONS WAS DEPARTMTEN OF WATER RESOURCES. GEORGE CAWLEY WAS THE DIVISION CHIEF FOR WATER MANAGEMENT BACK IN 1997, AND WE RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH HIM TO ASK HIM WHAT HE REMEMBERS AND THE CHANGES HE HAS SEEN OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS. >> THAT WHOLE BUILDUP OF THINGS THAT -- THAT WHOLE BUILDUP OF THINGS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS PRETTY SCA.RY WE KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE BAD BUT NOT EXACTLY HOW BAD. >> THE WET WEATHER BEFORE THE NEW YEAR’STOS S ALREADY SENT- WATER INTO THE RESERVOIRS AND THE BYPASS. >> WHEN THE BIG STORM CAME, ALL THE SITUATION OF PERFECT STORM. YOU HAVE THE CIRCUMSTAESNC FOR MAXIMUM RUNO.FF >> WE HAVE SEEN THE PEDESTRIAN BRGEID JTUS DOWNSTREAM FROM SUNRISE BLVD’S ALMOST UNDERWATER. >> WE ULCOD NOT HAVE WRITTEN A SCRIPT TO MAKE A MORE DIFFICULT SITUATION. THERE WAS ALSO A BIG EVENT ALL THROUGH E THVALLEY. >> WE ARE GOING TO GET YOU UP-TO-DATE ON ALL OF ATWH IS GOING ON IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RELATED TO THE HEAVY WEATHER THAT WENT THROUGH LAST NIGHT. >> WE DID EXPERIENCE THESE SO-CALLED PINEAPPLE EXPRESS AS BEFORE, BUT AS THE BUILDUP WAS OCCURRING, YOU KNOW IT IS COMING TOWARD CALIFORNIA. ONE THING YOU DON’T KNOW AND REALLY CANNOT KNOW IS WHAT THE STORM CENTERING IS GOING TO BE. THAT’S VERY CRITICAL. WHAT EXACTLY IS THAT ATMOSPHERIC RIVER EATING AT WHEN IT COMES IN? >> THAT IS ONE ASPECT THAT HAS IMPROVED IN ETH LAST 25 YEARS- - TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING DEVICES TO MEASURE WIND, TEMPERATURE, AND HUMIDITY. >> WHEN THE ATMOSPHERIC RIVER’S LINEUP, THEY WILL DROP THESE THINGS AND SEND THEM THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE, AND THEY COMBINE THAT DATA WITH SURFACE INFORMATION. IT REALLY HELPS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ATMOSPHERE. >> THERE HAD ALSO BEEN STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS. >> WE ARE A WHOLE LOT BETTER PREPEDAR. WE LOOK AT LESSONS LEARNED DURING A FLOOD EVENT. >> ONE OF THE LESSONS WAS THE WAY THE FLOOD WAS HANDLED ON FOLSOM DAM. >> A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE ON THE AMERICAN RIVER ITSELF. >> THERE WILL BE ANOTHER FLOOD, BUT WITH THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM 1997, WWILLE BE BETTER PRAREPED WHEN IT HAPPENS. GULSTAN: AND WE OWKN MORE FLOODS WILL HAPPEN IN OUR AREA, BUT THE QUESTION IS WHEN? AND WHAT IMPACT WILL THEY HAVE? I WI HAVE THAT PART OF OUR COVERAGE COMING UP AFTER THE BREAK. EDIE: CONTINUING OUR COVERAGE OF THE ’97 FLOODS IN NORTHNER CALIFORNIA, YOU KNOW, MARK, THESE IMAGES ARE REALLY SHOCKING, EVEN FOR THOSE OF US WHO REMEMBER IT. I DID NOT REMEMBEITR WAS SO WIDESPREAD. YOU MENTIONED WE WILL HAVE FLOODSGAIN A, BUT PEOPLE MAY BE WONDERING IF IT WILL BE THISIG B AGAIN. MARK: I HAVE A BRIEF LIST FOR YOU. WE HAVE HAD FLOSOD IN 1940, 1950, ETC. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HAS A HISTORY OF FLOODING. WHAT MADE 1997 SO INTERESTING WAS WE WENT INTO THE YEAR WITH WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER OUR RESERVOIRS IN GOOD SHAPE. IN OTHER WORDSTH, ERE’S A LOT OF WATER IN OUR RESERVOIRS, BUT THEN WE HAD EARLY-SEASON RAIN, SO THEY WENT UP EVEN MORE. IT STARTED SOME RELEASE FROM THE RESERVOIRS ALRDYEA BEFORE THE STORM HAPPENED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, BUT WHEN THE NEW YEAR’S DAY STORM DID COME IN, THEN THEY HAD TO RELEASE A LOT OF WATER OUT OF THE RESERVOIRS, AND THAT RESTSSED THE DOWNSTREAM LEVIES. WE WILL HAVE BIG STORMS AGAIN IN THE FUTURE, SO IF WE HAD ONE THIS YEAR, WE WOULD BE IN MUCH BETTER SPEHA BECAUSE, OF COURSE, THE RESERVOIRS ARE SO LOW THIS YEAR. IF WE HAD A BIG STORM SOME TIME IN THE NEXT MONTH, WE WOULD HANDLE IT A TLO BETTER THAN WE DID IN 1997. GULSTAN: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT, YOU JUST MENTIONED IT, WAS THE LEVY AND THE LEVEE BREAKS THAT HAENPPED. WE KNOW SO MANY COMMUNITIES ARE BUILT RIGHT AROUND ALL OF THESE LEVIES IN OUR AREA. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE LEVIES NOW, AND ARE THEY BETTER? >> A LOT OF STUDIES WERE DONE IN 1997. IT WAS REALLY A LANDMARK FLOOD. THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS. YUBA COUNTY HAS DONE A GREATOB J ON THE FEATHER RIVER, THE BEAR RIVER, AND THE YUBA RIVER. BUTTE COUNTY IS MUCH BETTER PREPARED THAN IT WAS BACK IN 1997, BUT YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER IN THE ENTIRE VALLEY, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF MILES OF LEVEES. ETH PROBLEM IS THEY ONLY GET TESTED WHEN THE WATER IS LIKE THIS. IN OERTHOR WDS, YOU DON’T KNOW IF THERE IS A WEAK SPOT IN THE LEVY UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE. YES, WE WILL LIKELY SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN AGN,AI BUT WHERE? WILL IT BE ON THE COSUMNES RIVER NEXT TIME? IS IT GOING TO BE ON THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER? AS GEORGE SAID, EVERY FLOOD BRINGS MORE LESSONS LEARNED, AND LWEEAEDRN A LOT OF LESSONS FROM 1997, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF LEVEES IN THE VALLEY. THE NEXT TIME WE GET A FLOOD, ONE WILL FAIL SOMEWHERE. WE JUST DON’T KNOW WHERE. GHOSTED: YOU’RE HERE NOW, AND WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE TTHA WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE. EDIE: RIGHT NOW ON OUR INTERACTIVE APP, WE HAVE A MAP SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED IN WHHIC AREA. WE ALSO HAVE A LIST OF INCIDENTS, WITH VIDEOS SHOWING HOW KCRA THREE COVERED THEM AT THE TI