Butte County California Sheriff's Office: SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EXPECTED ACROSS BUTTE COUNTY

Press release from the Butte County California Sheriff's Office:

October 23, 2021

SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EXPECTED ACROSS BUTTE COUNTYButte County, CA- The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for both the North Complex and Dixie Fire burn scar areas as heavy rainfall is expected across Butte County Saturday evening and will continue through late Sunday. The Flash Flood Watch could be upgraded to a Flash Flood Warning by the NWS when flash flooding is imminent. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office urges our community members to prepare now to evacuate in the event debris flows/flooding occurs within the burn scar areas. According to NWS, debris flows occur over recently burned areas where there is no longer vegetation to absorb water and keep soil in its place. A fast-moving mix of mud, ash, and debris can form and move down slope. They can move faster than you can run or even drive. If you are in the impacted area or are located near a waterway downstream from the impacted area, you should be prepared to immediately evacuate to high ground, if an Evacuation Order is issued by BCSO, or if you feel threatened.In addition to the burn scar areas, a significant amount of rain could also impact our local waterways as well as roadways prone to flooding, and we urge our community members to limit driving if possible throughout the duration of the heavy rainfall that is expected in Butte County. Sand and sandbags have been delivered to locations throughout Butte County, residents will need to bring their own shovels. A list of sandbag locations is available at www.buttecounty.net. We also urge our community members who have not already signed up for CodeRED to do so by visiting our website, www.buttecounty.net/sheriff. Updated weather information from the National Weather Service can also be found by visiting www.weather.gov/sto/. ###

This press release was produced by the Butte County California Sheriff's Office. The views expressed here are the author’s own.