Water managers are concerned that the spring snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada will be so massive that the north fork of the Kings River won’t be able to contain it and carry it toward the Pacific Ocean. Caetano and his neighbors in the tree-lined Island District, home to a school, pistachio orchards and horse ranches about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, could soon be marooned by rising rivers or flooded out. “I am preparing for the worst and praying for the best and that’s all we can do.”Īfter more than a dozen atmospheric rivers dumped epic rain and snowfall on California, a reservoir that stores water upstream is expected to receive three times its capacity in the coming months. “The water is coming this way,” said Caetano, who started a Facebook group to help organize his neighbors.

He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher ground. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and he’s put food in carry totes. (AP) - Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go.

Under a falling star by jae