Heavy Downpour Shocks Bay Area
By LORI PREUITT
Updated 6:09 AM PST, Tue, Oct 20, 2009
The forecasters said it was going to rain, but did anybody say downpour? That's what happened in several parts of the Bay Area Monday afternoon.
A cell of heavy rain "came out of nowhere" dumping water faster than storm drains could handle.
In its wake came the flooding of dozens of intersections in San Francisco and Oakland. Several on-ramps to Interstate Highway 280 were closed, including the Mariposa Street, Sixth Street and King Street.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Rainfall in some areas topped one inch per hour. Some small creeks and streams may overflow as water levels rise.
The water also proved too much for San Francisco's Muni system. It suspended service between the Embarcadero and West Portal stations due to flooding at the Van Ness station because of the heavy rain.
Spokesman Judson True said at about 4:15 p.m. that the Van Ness station was closed and that some trains were stopped inside the tunnel. He did not yet know whether there were riders on those trains.
The weather also affected one cable car line. Muni took the Mason portion of the Powell-Mason Cable Car line out of service at 2:35 p.m.
Photo by Laffy4k
First Published: Oct 19, 2009 5:12 PM PST
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