North Valley law enforcement prepared for weather emergencies

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Heavy rain and strong winds blew across Madera Thursday, causing flooding on roadways and concerns for mountain areas.

Days ahead of the storm, the Madera County Sheriff's Office was preparing and getting the community ready for whatever the weather may bring.

"Preparing with sandbag locations," said Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue.

"A lot of coordination with our allied agencies and community partners, as well as installing various camera trailers like surveillance systems to watch the areas of concern."

The biggest areas of concern are burn scars where they're prepared for the potential for mudslides and warned residents of possible evacuations.

"We placed an evacuation advisory to let them know that that could come any minute, and when that comes a mandatory evacuation order could be right behind it," said Pogue.

In Mariposa County, people welcomed the rain with a side of caution.

"It looks like we're going to get hammered here for the next day or two but I know we need it, it's been dry so just gotta worry about the flooding," Matthew Santilli, Mariposa Resident.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) encourages caution, warning drivers to stay alert for hazards on the roadways.

"A lot of times on these curves on the mountain roads you don't have time to react when rocks come down you want to slow down," said CHP Officer Steven Mullen.

"You don't know what's around that next curve."

The CHP had crews out securing hillsides to hopefully prevent landslides.

Officers have already responded to several calls of downed trees in Mariposa County.

In Merced County, they're prepared for water flowing fast down from Mariposa over the next 36 hours.

"We've got four detention dams east of Merced County that regulate the water coming in," said Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke.

so that water is gonna be scooting and we anticipate that water to be in our drainage creek beds tomorrow."

Sheriff Warnke always watches Bear Creek when the rain comes through.

However, he said the creek water levels remain well below flood stage at this point.

"We've had a very dry winter and I think that's going to be the saving grace here," said Warnke.

Warnke said there's no need for concern, but he encourages everyone to be prepared and watch for standing water on roadways.

In Madera County, the sheriff's office has its search and rescue gear staged and volunteers on call in case of emergency.

For news updates, follow Kate Nemarich on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.