Businesses along Kings River bracing for higher water levels

TULARE COUNTY (KFSN) -- It's been five days since Cathy Adair and her five-year-old son had to evacuate their studio apartment at Riverland RV Resort. They're currently staying at a friend's mobile home, on slightly higher ground.

"(It's) a natural disaster," Adair said. "I mean it's crazy."

Adair has never seen the Kings River this high. She thinks the situation here will most likely get worse, before it improves.

"I'm just hoping that they're able to clean it all up," Adair said. "I mean there's nothing really that we can even do. They're doing everything that they can, they've got sandbags, they've got dirt out there, they're doing the best that they can."

Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers let more water out of Pine Flat Dam, to make room for runoff from the Sierra Nevada.

The high water levels have also caused some flooding at Kings River Golf and Country Club. So far, the water has touched part of the parking lot and a couple of old structures.

"Now we're now just trying to save the golf course," said Head Golf Professional John Creaney.

With the help of their members, Creaney says they've been sandbagging for months. He says they've built berms alongside the river's edge, but he knows they can only do so much.

"If the water keeps on rising, there's just going to be a point where we can't contain it anymore," he said. "But the temperatures are supposed to cool down, my understanding is the releases may go down at some point and we're just hoping to make it to then."

A few miles away, the Kings has engulfed Lindy's Landing again. The campground was flooded in March, and lost business in May when authorities closed the river to recreation.