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Clear Lake At Risk Of Overflowing, Damaging Homes

CLEAR LAKE (CBS/AP) - Homeowners in Lake County are stocking up on sandbags, as officials warn that Clear Lake may flood for the first time in 13 years.

The National Weather Service said Clear Lake is expected to reach flood stage at 11 a.m. Friday. Storms over the past several days have caused the lake to rise and begin lapping at the decks of shoreline homes.

The last time the lake reached flood stage was in 1998, when Lake County was declared part of a federal disaster area. More than 700 hundred residents were left homeless in floods 15 years before that.

Local store owners said they are selling out of sandbags, and some residents are leaving town.

Clear Lake is about 100 miles northwest of Sacramento.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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