Paradise Park residents are all too familiar with flooding

For those living up in the San Lorenzo Valley the rain is getting a bit old.

“I bet even the trees are getting a bit tired of it, they’re all starting to fall over like they’re planted in jello,” said Diane Beckman, who lives in Paradise Park.

In Paradise Park some homes flood almost every winter, but recently homes that usually manage to avoid flooding haven’t been so lucky. At 7:45 Monday morning the San Lorenzo River reached a level of 14.38 feet, just shy of flood stage.

“But again everybody up here is kind of used to it,” said Beckman. “I mean it is what it is.”

Living right along the river in Paradise Park, Mike Hackenberg has seen his fair share of flooding.

“Well, it scares the holy crap out of my wife so I’m her gauge to make her feel safe,” said Hackenberg. “But if anything actually does happen we can just go right up the street to our neighbors.”

Hackenberg said he doesn’t do a whole lot to prepare for these situations, according to him sand bags can only do so much. But when the storms pass it’s the clean up that becomes a challenge. To him and many others living in Paradise Park, spirits remain high.

“We’re going to wait for all this to get done so we can get some roof repairs done,” added Hackenberg. “Other than that, life goes on.”