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Massive amounts of rain and flooding have hit California, and the North Coast is no exception. All along the Eel River Valley, pastures are looking more like ponds, and fences have been completely submerged by the heavy showers.

“Anyone who has damage to their houses, it’s catastrophic,” said Ferndale city manager, Jay Parrish. “Especially in this area, the sediment that the water is carrying is very slick and sticky and it’s really just a terrible, stressful event.”

Ferndale has come to terms with the vulnerable land it sits on and in recent years taken great strides to develop a system of coordination with the county, the fair association, Calfire and the California Conservation Corps to provide sandbags to people living in the valley.

This is the city’s third year of having a sandbagging machine, and it’s very efficient. Last year they filled 10,000 sandbags, and the year before, 8,000.

Last Thursday more than 2,500 bags were filled in preparation for the storm events. As of Monday’s mid-afternoon count there was 1,500 left. The city is encouraging residents to take advantage of the sandbags, located at the fairgrounds Gate D, because conditions are expected to get worse.