MORGAN HILL (KRON) — The calm before the storm, which will be bearing down on the Bay Area this weekend, has already led to some mandatory evacuation orders.
In Morgan Hill on Friday, a rain-swollen creek has campers on the move, lest they will be trapped by a possible flood this weekend.
Dozens of campers, most of them in RVs, pulled up stakes Friday and headed for higher ground amid worries nearby Uvas Creek might jump its banks this weekend and flood the campground.
Thousand Trails would not allow reporters on site, but a bridge is the only way in and the only way out. And were that bridge to flood or fail, campers could be trapped, long-time resident Noe Espamilla said.
Upstream, Uvas Reservoir is full. The water being released to make way for more runoff has already led to the closure of Miller Avenue downstream in Gilroy, and that same creek flows right through the campground, which has been evacuated before, ahead of the heavy weather.
Camper Ray Soto says campers can’t come back until at least mid-January.
He says there are plans to upgrade or replace the old bridge. Offered replacement campsites near Hollister, some campers said Thousand Trails should have fixed the bridge long ago.
Others are simply taking it in stride.
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