Cambria gets more than an inch of rain from storm

A dramatic rollover accident in Cambria about 2:50 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, sent an Atascadero woman from Highway 1 to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. Her injuries from the single-car accident were not serious, and she was reportedly examined, treated and released.

It was just one of 11 accidents responded to by Templeton-based CHP officers during the storm, according to Pat Seebart, CHP spokesman. At least nine accidents happened within about two hours, including three between 4:15 and 4:26 p.m. on northbound Highway 101 near the Highway 58 exit.

North Coast locations were doused with as much as nearly 2 inches of rain during the storm. Rocky Butte got 1.89 inches, the wastewater treatment plant gauge recorded 1.02 inches, and the Top of the World neighborhood of Cambria received 1.1 inches during the storm.

According to firefighters on duty Monday, Nov. 21, Cambria Fire Department didn’t receive any other storm-related calls.

In the Cambria accident, Michelle Renee Latham, 49, was driving her white 2006 Suzuki Aerio sedan north on Highway 1, according to firefighters and a CHP report. Seebart said Monday the responding officer didn’t think alcohol or drugs were factors in the accident, but that the rainy weather and slick road conditions probably were.

Latham’s Suzuki apparently swerved or slid, took out a Windsor Boulevard road sign on Highway 1, flipped down the hillside and landed with its crunched hood up against the chain-link fence just west of Main Street and south of Windsor Boulevard (across from the Old Cambria Marketplace and Shell gas station).

She was able to walk from the car to the Cambria Community Healthcare District ambulance. Cambria Fire and Cal Fire personnel also responded to the call. Latham had been wearing her seat belt, and the vehicle’s airbag deployed, according to firefighters on the scene.

Seebart reminded drivers to “slow down, especially when it’s raining. Give yourself more of a space cushion, more time to react. Look at what’s ahead of you, not just in front of your car. Don’t slam on your brakes; pump them instead. And, obviously, don’t drive ‘distracted’ by phone calls or texts,” or when you’re tired or under the influence of a chemical substance that can impair your skills and response times.

Ahead of time, make sure your tires are properly inflated and have enough tread, and that your windshield wipers are in tip-top shape.

Weather forecasts Monday, Nov. 21, from PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey called for mostly clear weather on Thanksgiving through Saturday, but “another low-pressure system and associated cold front is forecast to move into our area on Sunday night/next Monday morning, bringing more rain and mountain snow,” he wrote in his emailed forecast.

However, “considerable uncertainty remains on the severity of this system.”

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 8:01 AM with the headline "Cambria gets more than an inch of rain from storm."