Child drowns as storm delivers wallop to Northern California

The latest in a series of storms walloped Northern California Friday, bringing tragedy to a foothills community.

A 3-year-old girl in the Calaveras County community of Valley Springs died Friday after falling down an embankment and into the Calaveras River, which swept her away, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Elsewhere, the storm contributed to a train derailment near Elk Grove and an evacuation order at a campground near Delhi, and the release of more water from Don Pedro Reservoir.

The drowning in Valley Springs occurred shortly before 11 a.m.., authorities said. The little girl fell into the river while on a walk in the area of the River of Skulls Nature Trail, about a quarter mile below Hogan Dam.

Also Friday, Turlock Irrigation District officials announced plans to increase releases from Don Pedro in order to accommodate inflows into the reservoir. District spokesman Calvin Curtin said the releases are targeted to keep the Tuolumne below flood stage of 55 feet.

Merced County declared a state of emergency Thursday evening due to flooding and issued evacuation warnings at the Merced River Campground Resort in Delhi, officials said.

On Friday, officials including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, County Supervisor Lloyd Pareira went up in the sheriff’s helicopter Sable 5 Sheriff Vern Warnke to assess the flooding.

“We want to make sure we have everything in line,” Warnke said. “We don’t want to play catch up if things go sideways.”

Officials are keeping an eye on the Mariposa foothills and Pacheco Diablo areas and the Army Corps flood control reservoirs on the east side of the county. On Friday, most major roadways in Mariposa were flooded, and many were impacted by rock and mud slides, Mariposa-area California Highway Patrol office said.

The Modesto area escaped the brunt of the most recent storm, but still received more than three-quarters of an inch of rain between Thursday and Friday, according to the Modesto Irrigation District.

Cannella said the current flooding highlights the state’s need for more water storage in wet years to supplement dry years, comparing this wet winter to the last five years of drought.

“This is an indictment on the state of California,” Cannella said. “This is the perfect example of the importance of water storage.”

The Merced Sun-Star contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Child drowns as storm delivers wallop to Northern California."