Merced prepares for potential flooding during next round of rain

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- From churches to houses, Merced County is ready for the next round of rain.

Video of Hagamen Park shows a drastic change. Less than a month ago, it was an open space, but now it's filled with water.

"It's a low park, so during the summertime, when the water in the river is a little bit lower, people can go down to the water. So, what we do is we just move picnic benches, some of those things up a little bit higher get it out of the water, and then put-up barricades." said Public Information Officer Mike North with Merced County.

He said the park floods every few years. The county is on standby, ready to help as needed. Meanwhile, people in the city of Merced are also preparing for more water.

"Cautious, I feel cautious," said Merced resident, Judy MacLaren.

Her home sits along Bear Creek. She said after her house was destroyed by the flood in January, she's not taking any chances.

"I can monitor bear creek. So, I'm on my app watching that," said MacLaren.

She has flood insurance, but it's still going to cost her tens of thousands of dollars to fix her home.

Meanwhile, down the street, Carmen and Jaime Rodriguez have prepared for more rain after getting flooded out in January.

"Last week, we went and got more than 350 sandbags. We worked for three days in a row," said Rodriguez.

She said they are still working to repair their house.

"The floors are still not done. We're all on cement. I don't have no kitchen. We're cooking on crockpots, air fryer, microwave," said Rodriguez.

Merced Irrigation District said they are decreasing the amount of water going into Merced River. The hope is to prevent people's homes from flooding again.

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