WOFFORD HEIGHTS, Calif. (KERO) — On Friday, March 10, the Kern County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation alert for the mountain areas, expecting extreme flooding, and that's exactly what the area saw.
Wofford Heights resident Monica Miller says she has been watching the Tille Creek, a normally serene mountain creek that flows past her property, turn into what looks like a raging river.
"I had my stuff packed and ready to go knowing that this was so bad," said Miller. "This is Tille Creek, which is normally about one-one hundredth - I mean, it's not measured, but it's normally a slow-flowing creek. We actually call this part, like, our little slow waterslide."
But Miller, who is among many people forced to evacuate due to flooding, says the creek looks a lot different with all the recent precipitation.
"It's come up higher than I've ever seen it, and I've lived here a long time," said Miller.
Miller says she lives on the higher side of the creek, but when the evacuation order came, she left due to the threat the flooding poses to her home.
"My home is a little more elevated than the lower-lying ones which the water has already done damage to, but with as much rain and snow as we have, the concern is actually this roadway, too," said Miller. "The water will eventually make a path wherever it needs to, so if it comes down the roadway, it could easily take out my house."
Miller isn't alone. There are other communities that are already underwater. The playground at Riverside Park, as well as homes in a Kernville RV park are underwater after having been hit by flooding.
Kern River Conservancy Executive Director Gary Ananian says residents should expect to see more flood damage.
"The bad end, obviously, we are going to see flooding. We're gonna see damage to residential homes. We're gonna see a ton of damages to recreational areas; the park, the campground, and all that," said Ananian.
According to Ananian, Friday's water accumulation has already surpassed the projected cubic feet per second that was predicted to be coming into the river.
"CFS is 'cubic feet per second,' so the best way to visualize that is a basketball. The basketball is the size of one cubic foot," said Ananian. "So when they're saying it's 42,000 cubic feet coming down the river, that's 42,000 basketballs lined off, like a wall of water coming down."
Ananian says everyone impacted by the water needs to keep thinking Safety First.
"It's a flood stage at the moment. It's not something to play in. Don't look at this river and say, 'Let's go in and to intertubing,'" said Ananian. "It's not what this is at all."
As for Miller, she says she's genuinely not sure what the next 24 hours will hold for her home and property.
"I grew up here in this town, but I've lived in this house just over 4 years, and even on the times when e thought this was heavy, it was half of this at most maybe, and that was with our heaviest rains and less snowpack than we have now," said Miller.
For the latest updates on weather and road conditions, stay connected to 23ABC on the air and online.
- Updates on evacuation alerts and shelter locations: KCFD issues additional evacuation orders for parts of Kern County
- Updates on road closures: Weather-related road closures across Kern County
