Rising floodwaters sent at least 14,000 residents fleeing inundated homes in San Jose, California, and forced the shutdown of a major freeway Wednesday.
Officials say U.S. 101 is closed in both directions south of San Francisco early Wednesday because of water across lanes. There is no estimate when the key commuter artery into Silicon Valley will reopen.
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San Jose has declared a local emergency after record flooding from the Coyote Creek submerged a neighborhood. City officials expanded mandatory evacuations approximately 250 feet beyond the Coyote Creek's 100-year flood zone, running from north of Interstate 280 to south of U.S. 101.
Floodwaters engulfed whole city blocks and submerged parked cars, as firefighters in inflatable boats ferried stranded residents to dry ground.
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About 480 homes were ordered evacuated in low-lying Rock Springs and police officers went door-to-door advising residents at three mobile home parks near the Coyote Creek to seek higher ground, city spokesman David Vossbrink said.
"They said we had 10 minutes to pack the things we wanted to bring," said 10-year-old Jaycey Manuel, who threw some clothes into a backpack and rode with neighbors to higher ground.
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The city set up evacuation centers in the Mayfair Community Center located at 2039 Kammerer Ave. and in the Shirakawa Community Center at 2072 Lucretia Ave.
Overnight, flood victims gathered at James Lick High School at 57 N. White Rd and Evergreen Valley High School at 3300 Quimby Rd.
At least 225 residents were taken Tuesday to dry land and rinsed with soap and water to prevent them from being sickened by floodwaters that had traveled through engine fuel, garbage, debris and sewer lines. No major injuries were reported.
Although the persistant downpours began to taper off, flood warnings were in place through Saturday because waterways were overwhelmed.
Meanwhile several other communities downstream from a Northern California reservoir gushing water for the first time in 20 years braced for flash floods and evacuations. The surge released from Don Pedro Dam into the Tuolumne River in the foothills east of Modesto was expected to reach overtopped levees late Wednesday.
San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services spokesman Tim Daly said the water released from Don Pedro is expected to reach its peak along a stretch near Vernalis that's already at dangerous levels. He added that the water isn't expected to spill over the levees but will likely increase pressure on them, causing possible breaks in any weak places.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo visited the flood zones Tuesday. According to Liccardo, an estimated 500 households, which include roughly 60 multi-unit apartment complexes, were impacted by the rising water.
"We've got all hands on deck right now," Liccardo said. "Everybody in this city is working hard to do whatever we can to safeguard our residents."
Earlier Tuesday, five homeless people were rescued from the nearby Los Lagos Golf Course after swift-moving water surrounded their encampments.
"We knew we would have flooding in San Jose. We did not know how bad it was," San Jose Fire Captain Mitch Matlow said. Matlow also said it was the worst flooding he has seen during his 35 years working in Santa Clara County.
The area is getting a brief break from the rain, but a flood warning for central Santa Clara County will remain in effect until further notice.
The Anderson Dam in Santa Clara County reached capacity over the weekend, and after heavy rain, it began overflowing into the Coyote Creek for the first time in 11 years.
City officials said they have been warning residents along Coyote Creek to prepare for potential evacuations for a few days as a result of the rushing water flowing from Anderson Reservoir, according to city spokesman David Vossbrink.
"The water district is telling us that they're not seen this level of flows coming down the Anderson spillway in their experience so that really does create a situation that is new for everybody," he said.
Aside from the deluge of recent rain that caused water levels along the creek to rise, Liccardo added that some sort of breach in the creek made matters even worse.
"We're still trying to nail that down now, but clearly there is a source in the creek where there is a significantly large amount of water that is rushing in," he said. "This is more than the typical inundation."
Regardless, Liccardo suggested that something still went wrong with planning for this major event.
"As I sit here today and look at a neighborhood that is completely inundated with water where we have fire crews doing whatever they can to get people out, there's no question in my mind there was a failure of some kind," he said. "We'll have plenty of time for 'Monday morning quarterbacking' in the days ahead. Right now, we've got to do whatever we can to get people out."
NBC News contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: AP
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