Houseboats at Fresno County lake damaged during summer thunderstorm, marina owner says

The windy weather this week in Fresno County damaged some houseboats at Pine Flat Lake, the marina owner confirmed Thursday.

The summer thunderstorm that struck the central San Joaquin Valley on Wednesday left three boats leaning or tipped to the side after wind caused rough waves along the Pine Flat Lake Marina, owner Keith Brockman said.

The National Weather Service said the thunderstorm brought gusty erratic winds and lightning that threatened to cause fires.

A summer storm is not unusual but boats don’t tip often, the owner for 18 years Brockman said, estimating it has been five years since the last incident.

He said he’s working on getting the boats removed Thursday and said it’s up to insurance companies to decide what is salvage. He estimated two are too damaged to be repaired.

There are two marinas in the lake northeast of Sanger, and the Lakeview Marina was exposed to more waves driven by several hours of heavy winds, Brockman said.

“We get these summer storms pretty often,” he said. “When we get winds going one direction, it blows pretty hard.”

“It was such a long event,” he added.

Pine Flat didn’t see any rain, he said, but did get some lightning.

The Fresno County lake fared better than a marina that took damage in Tulare County. Boats broke free of their moorings at the Kaweah Lake marina and were propelled by wind against the dam.