With a brief respite today from the first wave of El Nino storms
that brought five straight days of rain and high winds to the West
Coast, local officials are gearing up for what is expected to be a
messy winter.
With a brief respite today from the first wave of El Nino storms that brought five straight days of rain and high winds to the West Coast, local officials are gearing up for what is expected to be a messy winter.
The recent storms had county and city public works departments busy clearing fallen trees and branches from roadways and debris from storm drains.
More than two inches of rain fell on Hollister from Friday through Sunday with another half-inch on Monday. Tuesday’s rainfall for the city was .13 of an inch, which included a brief hailstorm Tuesday afternoon.
San Benito County Public Works has 500 filled sandbags on trailers ready to be deployed and an additional 10,000 empty sand bags if upcoming storms pose flood dangers, said Peter Corn, the county’s assistant director of public works.
County public works will have people available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the winter, Public Works Administrator Doug Koenig said.
“We’re stocking up on sandbags, we have rocks stockpiled in various locations, we’re doing stream bank stabilization and we have people on call for weekends,” Koenig said. “This past weekend, with high winds we had our crews and equipment throughout the county.”
The next storm is expected to hit early Thursday with heavy rain and high winds, continuing through Friday with intermittent showers until Christmas, said Derek Wroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The storm is predicted to be centered from Monterey to the Bay Area, he said.
“In the long term it’s not looking all that good,” Wroe said. “There could be flooding because quite a few days of rain will pose serious problems.”
Despite a lawsuit from San Benito County to prevent it, the City of Hollister is constructing a domestic wastewater seasonal storage pond to prepare for above-normal rainfall in the months to come. The pond could hold an additional 30 million gallons of sewage water and would potentially take in extra sewage if the current percolation ponds could become overburdened with water during heavy rains.
The city disposes of its sewage through ponds that percolate treated sewage into the ground. Slower evaporation of disposal ponds during winter’s shorter days and potential river flooding can pose problems with pond capacities, with no place to put the water.
“If the rain keeps up (the pond) will show us why we need it,” said Jim Perrine, utilities manager for the city.
City Manager George Lewis said the pond would be a valuable asset during heavy rain.
The recent storms have left thousands of Santa Cruz County residents without power and warnings of mudslides have been issued in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Raymond Wilson of the U.S. Geological Survey said there is so much moisture in the soil that rainfall is pouring straight down hills.
A mudslide 20 years ago in Santa Cruz County buried 12 homes, killing 10 people. Storms also led to slides in 1998.
Statewide, almost 100,000 customers remained without power Tuesday morning.
Although this winter’s storm season is another El Nino and is expected to bring higher than average amounts of rainfall, it will probably not be as robust as the last one, Wroe said.
Holiday travelers may find freeway delays Dec. 24 when motorists are expected to hit the road during wet weather. Locally, Highway 152 is expected to be backed up from U.S. 101 to Interstate 5, the California Highway Patrol said.
The recent storms led to serious accidents on U.S. 101 attributed to drivers who failed to slow down on the wet roads. Three accidents involving five to six cars occurred on the freeway during the storms, said Terry Mayes, public information officer with the Hollister-Gilroy CHP Unit.
“If it rains that significantly where you can’t see and you don’t slow down, the car is probably going to hydroplane and the driver cannot control the speed,” Mayes said.
The U.S. Forest Service also warned that the danger of avalanches remained high above 6,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Foul weather continued to hit California Monday night and Tuesday morning. Hail pounded downtown San Francisco, accompanied by winds up to 50 mph with higher gusts. At the summit of Mount Diablo in the East Bay, gusts reached 100 mph.
A quarter-inch of snow fell on Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose and lightning knocked out a National Weather Service radar station in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Rainfall records were broken Monday across the state. In downtown Los Angeles, a 62-year-old mark was broken when nearly two inches of rain fell in 24 hours. In San Francisco, 2.1 inches were recorded, easily breaking the record of 1.36 inches for the same period set in 1962.
Forecast:
Tonight– Increasing clouds with a 30 percent chance of rain and becoming windy toward the morning. Lows from the mid 30s to the upper 40s.
Thursday– Rain – heavy at times – and windy. Highs from the lower 40s to the mid 50s.
Friday– Showers and breezy. Highs from the lower 40s to the mid 50s. Chance of rain 80 percent.
Saturday– Showers likely during the day then partly cloudy with a chance of showers during the night.
Sunday– A chance of showers early. Otherwise partly cloudy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
