The first Sunday of 2023 started slow in a dispatch center that serves Sacramento County but quickly picked up as rain, flooding, and winds carried dozens of cars off roadways and trapped drivers in floodwaters along Dillard Road near Highway 99.
On an average day, the Sacramento Regional Fire/EMS Communications Center receives 550-570 calls a day. On Sunday, New Year's Day, the dispatch center received 900 calls. The day before, the center received 1,000. That's twice the average number of calls.
Requests came in for help from drivers trapped in their vehicles, trapped in floodwaters in flash flood areas, and homeowners trapped and unable to receive oxygen deliveries due to downed trees and power outages. The callers in winter weather were, typically, disoriented.