Merced County officials worried about damage from upcoming storms

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Rivers remain high and crews are continuing to keep their eye to the sky as the North Valley prepared to face for more rain.

"It's really too much to handle at one time," said Mike North, Merced County PIO.

Merced County is clearing rivers and streams to help with water flows. However, their concern this time is not only with what could rise up, but what could come down.

"With the ground saturated and high winds that could result in trees and power lines being blown over," said North.

Merced County will receive FEMA funds after the president approved California's request for emergency aid.

"A lot of the FEMA money will go back in to the road system-- that's where we had a big impact," said North.

Several roads in the county were flooded-- this last storm inundated several parts of Le Grand.

Congressman Jim Costa addressing the aid, stating while he welcomes the declaration "it's simply not enough." He says he will be continuing to monitor flood damage closely.

In Madera, the sheriff's department is using any time they have before the next storm to prepare.

"The dam we had concern about in Cedar Valley-- that's in good shape. It's been sandbagged, the spillway has been adjusted so more of the water is going into the creek," said Sheriff Jay Varney, Madera OES Director.

The last series of storms caused several residents in the foothills to evacuate their homes as rain brought dangerous flooding to the area. But the county said it is still not enough to declare and emergency just yet.

"We've had some major damage throughout the county, but in general, there's a 650,000 trigger limit for when we would declare a disaster where the state CDAA money would kick in and to help mitigate some of the damage," said Varney.

The Merced County OES will remain activated throughout the storm.

Madera County's OES is not activated, but they are continuing to monitor the major waterways.

Both counties want residents to start taking precautions, start thinking of alternative routes in case you are needed to evacuate, and know your sand bag locations.