In Marin County, flooding left motorists stranded and kayakers stranded Saturday in areas where bicyclists usually pedaled. In San Francisco, the storm drenched spectators on the Embarcadero and Crissy Field.
Elsewhere, the storm forced other road closures in Alameda County and as far away as Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.
Jon Borges surveyed the flooded intersection at the Grand Gasoline just off the 101 at De Silva Island Drive in Mill Valley and his friend’s stuck Toyota.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” he said of the impact of the weekend’s king tides, which flooded many low-lying areas in Mill Valley as well as San Francisco’s Embarcadero and other parts of the Bay Area.
Oliver Ocampo, 5, of Sunnyvale, plays in the water during a king tide near the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero on Saturday. “I wish I had my rainbows,” said his mother, Sharon Hung. “It would be fun to play with.” (Yalonda M. James/SF Chronicle)
The trifecta of a supermoon, a storm system’s strong winds and heavy rains led to a Saturday morning high tide 2.5 feet higher than normal — the highest king tide since Feb. 6, 1998, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass. Flooding was reported in the Bay Area of Marin County, Sonoma County, Alameda County, San Mateo County and San Francisco.
The tide peaked just after 10:30 a.m. Saturday, although it took hours for the floodwaters to recede. San Francisco’s record high tide was 2.8 feet on January 27, 1998.
High tides prompted a coastal flood advisory in effect until 2:00 p.m. Sunday for much of the Gulf and Central Coast. Strong king tides and strong winds sent seawater into streets, parks and other low-lying areas. Flood waters 2 feet deep closed parts of Interstate 80 just west of the meter lights on the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge and forced the closure of other roads in Corte Madera, plus numerous roads in Sonoma County.
Storm surges sent high waves over the coastal breakwaters of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay and over the walkways at Pier 14 of San Francisco’s Embarcadero, drenching onlookers.
Flash flooding also disrupted traffic in Southern California. The southbound 101 Freeway in Gaviota (Santa Barbara County) was closed Saturday morning due to a mudslide and flooding that covered all lanes.
Noah Dorfman walks Molly walks a flooded path during a king tide in Mill Valley on Saturday. (Stephen Lam/SF Chronicle)
Mill Valley was particularly hard hit, with flooding stranding drivers and forcing intersection closures.
Borges, 28, had received a call around 10:30 a.m. as the big king was reaching the summit.
His friend tried to drive his Toyota pickup truck through the flooded intersection and got stuck until local firefighters helped free him.
Borges lives on a boat in Sausalito and is used to king tides, he said, but neither he nor his friend realized how bad the flooding would be at the intersection near the gas station.
“We’re just waiting for the water to go down enough to get a tow truck,” he said.
At Camino Alto and Miller Avenue, Mill Valley Department of Public Works employees blocked off a flooded intersection.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it this bad,” said Mark Bartel, who started working for the department six months earlier.
People shelter from the rain at Pier 14 in San Francisco on Saturday. (Yalonda M. James/SF Chronicle)
The department had to close other roads for minor flooding two months earlier, but “it was nothing like this,” he said as he waved drivers into the adjacent Safeway parking lot.
A few yards away, Jen Bennett, 53, and Marianne Kabir, 56, were walking to pick up their sons from basketball practice.
“You can’t even make it to high school,” Bennett said.
Earlier in the day, he had tried to run, only to find his usual tracks underwater.
Kabir looked on the bright side. All the flooding had brought out a bunch of birds.
“It’s really gorgeous,” she said.
Eli Ferrell, left, and brothers Connor and Brett Cardinal prepare to launch a canoe from swollen Coyote Creek during a king tide in Mill Valley Saturday. (Stephen Lam/SF Chronicle)
At Equator Coffee, further down Almonte Boulevard, baristas received calls from customers wondering if they could make it to the store. Julia Pfahl, 36, was getting her morning coffee and chatting with the baristas. He had to leave home much earlier than usual to get to work at Proof Lab Surf Shop. When he arrived at work, he found the store under 4 inches of water.
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” she said, giggling. “Everybody’s panicking, nobody knows how to drive in it — I saw a car by the Holiday Inn (on nearby Shoreline Highway) with water up to the windows. Did you really think you could get through that?”
Forecasters said another period of minor coastal flooding is expected late Sunday, although it won’t be as bad as Saturday’s water levels.
Tide levels will be about half a foot lower than Saturday’s flooding, forecasters said. By Monday, coastal flood advisories are expected to subside.
This article originally published at ‘Worst we’ve ever seen’: Bay area flooding closes roads, stranded drivers.