As stormy skies returned Friday, California officials said that the relentless rains that have eased years of punishing drought have come at a terrible cost, already ranking among the Golden State’s deadliest natural disasters — with more rain on the way.

“We’ve now experienced multiple large and damaging storm systems and there are more on the way,” California Office of Emergency Services Director Nancy Ward said in a Friday news briefing. “We’ve experienced destructive flooding of homes and infrastructure, levee breaches and overtopping, mudslides hurricane force winds in many of our communities, and even had a tornado touch down in Northern California. But let me emphasize, we are not out of the woods yet. The threat to communities remains, and waters will continue to rise even after these storms have passed.”

David Lawrence, a meteorologist and emergency response specialist with the National Weather Service Western Region Headquarters, added that over the last 18 days, the state has seen a statewide average of just over 9 inches of rainfall.

“That is a remarkable number,” Lawrence said. “Some locations have seen their average annual rainfall already occur in just the last 18 days.”

Lawrence said that while the weather service did not expect Friday’s downpours “to be overly significant,” another set of storms arriving Saturday “will bring widespread heavy rainfall in some locations, very heavy mountain snowfall as well, in addition to gusty winds up to 50 to 60 mph.”

“Not only could that rain produce additional flooding — and certainly we’ll see some major impacts to travel in the mountains — but those winds could also blow over trees and bring additional power outages,” Lawrence said. “We do see an additional one or two storm systems for early next week before hopefully we do finally get at least a very brief break in the weather toward the latter portions of next week.”

Authorities ticked off the statewide toll to date from the remarkable deluges since Christmas that have fallen on a state that had been parched after a series of dry winters.

• 6,000 Californians under evacuation order
• More than 20,000 still without electric power
• More than 60 major road closures, at least 32 of which are ongoing
• Seven waterways still under watch for major flooding
• Emergency declarations in 41 of California’s 58 counties
• 19 confirmed deaths — a figure that would rise to 20 if a 5-year-old boy missing since being swept away by floodwaters Monday in the San Luis Obispo County town of San Miguel isn’t found alive.

“These storms are amongst the most deadly natural disasters in the modern history of our state,” Ward said.

Authorities urged people to avoid travel over the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, heed precautions and not drive over flooded roadways.

Ward said her office is coordinating with authorities in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Merced counties “whose regions we expect to continue to be vulnerable to these next two or three storm systems, and to include the possibility of a complete cutoff of the Monterey Peninsula.

Monterey County communications coordinator Maia Carroll said Friday the Salinas River already flooded rural roads farm fields near Chualar, causing temporary closures Thursday.

But it will remain a threat through the weekend to potentially flood and close access to Highway 68 between Salinas and Monterey and other major roadways, possibly even Highway 1. If all those roadways have to be closed, the Monterey Peninsula, home to some 54,000 people in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Pebble Beach, could be isolated, perhaps for days. Carroll said ambulances and other emergency equipment have been positioned on both sides of areas where roads might have to close just in case.

“It depends on Mother Nature when we can exhale,” Carroll said.

Cindy Messer, lead deputy director at the California Department of Water Resources, said the Salinas is one of seven rivers and waterways under flood watch around the state. Others include the Sacramento River at Ord Ferry, the Navarro River at Navarro in Mendocino County, the Russian River in Guerneville, Bear Creek at McKee Road in Merced, and the San Joaquin River.

The silver lining, Messer said, is the relentless downpours have eased the state’s withering drought. Overall, statewide reservoir levels remain at about 75% of their average for this time of year, she said. That’s because the largest reservoirs were so low they take a lot of water to fill.

Lake Oroville was at about 47% of its full capacity, Shasta Lake at about 42% of its capacity, Folsom Lake at 42% of its capacity and lastly San Luis reservoir at 40% of its capacity.

“We’ve had an amazing amount of rainfall,” she said.

Six-hour rain totals from the National Weather Service as of noon Friday showed just under half of an inch had fallen in San Francisco and San Mateo between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. Oakland received one-quarter of an inch, and Walnut Creek had one-third. A one and one-half inch downpour occurred over the Santa Cruz Mountains while San Jose was virtually dry with just one-tenth of an inch.

Here are the past 6 hour precip totals for this morning #CAwx pic.twitter.com/4oEfsWfY2b

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 13, 2023

The weather service projected between a quarter and one-half of an inch of new rain in San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland on Friday night. On the coast in places such as Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, forecasts showed half of an inch of rain paired with wind gusts reaching 30 mph. Projections were lower in the East Bay, with Livermore and Walnut Creek expected to reach no more than one-quarter inch of rain Friday night.

Weather service meteorologist Eleanor Dhuyvetter said Saturday is a bigger concern, but those storms aren’t expected to be among the strongest the Bay Area has seen in the new year.

Even so, “with things just so saturated right now, it really doesn’t take much for some of the flooding issues, and that’s kind of the impacts we’re seeing.”

Saturday forecasts called for wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour and an inch of rainfall in downtown San Jose. In Oakland, rain totals could be as high as one inch with 24 mph winds, and San Francisco could see three-quarters of an inch with 21 mph gusts.

Sunday could be even more moderate, with no more than one-quarter of an inch expected in urban centers. But the rain was predicted to linger, with forecasts showing wet conditions lasting into Thursday.

Power outages, many caused by falling trees, were still afflicting thousands of customers in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Tracking site poweroutage.us Friday afternoon showed 3,665 out in Santa Cruz County and 1,589 in Santa Clara County.

Caltrans closed highway 92 in both directions from highway 35 to Pilarcitos Creek Road Thursday after a massive sinkhole opened up. As of Friday, there was no estimated time of reopening for the key roadway.

On Friday night, Santa Clara County staff issued new evacuation warnings to watershed areas near the Uvas Reservoir, Pacheco Pass River Basin and intersection of Highway 101 and Bolsa Road “due to the weather conditions and potential risks of flooding to the general public and property.”

Those areas under evacuation warning risk include Pacheco Pass River Basin for those living in the areas of:

• El Toro Road south of Highway 152 to Bloomfield Avenue
• Lovers Lane between Shore Road and Highway 152

Watershed Areas of the Uvas Reservoir including those living:

• South of Uvas Reservoir including Thousand Trails RV Park and Uvas Pines RV Park
• South of Sycamore Drive and Watsonville Road
• Homes south of Lions Peak
• South of Day Road and Geri Lane
• Watsonville and Highway 152

Highway 101 and Bolsa Road:

• South of Hwy 152, East of Highway 101
• South of Pacheco Pass (Highway 152) and east of Highway 101
• South of Luchessa Avenue and east of Thomas Road
• East of Santa Teresa Boulevard to Castro Valley Road
• North of Castro Valley Road to Luchessa Avenue
• North of Highway 25 between Highway 101 & Bloomfield Road
• West of Bloomfield Avenue between Highway 25 and Pacheco Pass (Highway 152)
• East of Highway 101 to Pacheco Pass (Highway 152)

Residents and visitors “should gather their household members, pets, personal items, important documents, prescription medication, change of clothes, non-perishable foods, water, extra batteries, flashlights, and phone chargers” and “prepare to evacuate to a safe location,” staff said in a statement.

Along the Central Coast, the weather service issued high surf warnings and a coastal flood advisory, citing a combination of high tide cycles, strong winds and heavy rain runoff.

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the weather service issued a winter storm warning set to last from 4 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Tuesday, advising travel could be “very difficult to impossible,” and to expect one to two feet of snow at the Tahoe Basin and three to five feet above elevations of 7,000 feet. By Friday afternoon, chain control checkpoints were in place on Interstate 80 and Highway 50.

Staff writer Rick Hurd and George Kelly contributed.

Quarry project woulddestroy scenic road

EBMUD has applied for a conditional use permit from Alameda County to allow the deposit of trench soil extracted from pipeline replacement into the quarry site located at 13575 Lake Chabot Road.

EBMUD estimates that there will be 60–100 dump trucks five days a week on Lake Chabot Road for the next 40–80 years (this is not a typo), with trucks entering Lake Chabot Road in San Leandro and exiting on Foothill in Castro Valley every four or five minutes.

Lake Chabot Road, is very narrow with no shoulders, already heavy with 3,500 cars a day, bicycle traffic, wildlife and hikers. It is currently closed due to storm damage. This fragile but needed scenic road can’t support dump trucks which will make it unsafe for those of us who use it now.

Teri SchlesingerSan Leandro

Prop. 13 proves costlyto government programs

“Prop. 13 is vital to senior community” in the Jan. 10 East Bay Times (Page A6) misleads readers.

Yes, Proposition 13 is vital to the senior community of homeowners, but Proposition 13 is also unfair to them and others, as well. In fact, Proposition 13 has been exploited by the community of big businesses while also harming the senior community and others.

Proposition 13 was passed in 1978 — thanks to the deceptive slogans of Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann — as “a way to keep Grandma in her home.” But it was also a way to keep the property taxes of businesses low — especially big businesses like Chevron and Disneyland.

Because the low property taxes of Proposition 13 drastically reduced funding of local and state governments, seniors and others have suffered — impoverished schools, government offices understaffed with shorter hours, streets and other infrastructure in poor repair.

Prop. 13 needs fixing to fairly serve all.

Ruby MacDonaldEl Cerrito

Feds overreach withtalk of gas stove ban

The federal government wants to ban gas stoves. I have a stove with an electric oven and gas burners.

I don’t like cooking with electric burners. It’s difficult to regulate the heat; with gas burners it’s so much easier. Gov. Gavin Newsom also wanted to do that but not for restaurants. The government always wants to come after the little guy and make our lives more difficult.

It’s bad enough already with inflation and high gas, food and energy prices. They blame everything on climate change. Enough is enough.

Cathy LedbetterNewark

The U.S. should joinnuclear weapons treaty

Jan. 22 is a historic day. It’s the day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force in 2021, aka the “Ban-aversary.”

This year, over 100 events across the country (including in Livermore) will celebrate the treaty with banner hangings, bell-ringings, visits and letters to elected officials, public readings of the treaty, and more.

U.S. leaders have long said we will lead the way to nuclear abolition. It’s time to make that promise real — join the treaty and lift the nuclear shadow that looms over the world.

Scott YundtLivermore

Letter is wrong to paintthe GOP as a monolith

Re. “Let’s celebrate heroes of the Jan. 6 breach,” Page A6, Jan. 11:

Thanks to Sandy White, I know who I am.

I bicycle everywhere (to save lives and the planet) and maxed out my solar. I’m not “rich” but donate 15% of my gross income to charities, regardless of whether they lean “left” or “right.” They all help people.

She proclaims “Let’s remind everyone which party (Republicans) tried to destroy our democracy and which party (Democrats) saved it.” She implies the five deaths of Jan. 6 (three by natural causes) are comparable to the 2,403 who died at Pearl Harbor — a true “day of infamy.” This veteran disagrees.

Who am I? A Republican. Therefore I am also a “Destroyer of Democracy.” She mentions no exceptions.

We are individuals, not a mindless collective. I consider ridiculous generalizations and uncompromising narratives (like hers) to be the true “Destroyers.” Obi-Wan Kenobi observed, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” Sandy, welcome to the Dark Side.

Stacy SpinkCastro Valley

]]> https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/12/letters-1115/feed/ 0 8715206 2023-01-12T16:30:54+00:00 2023-01-13T03:56:52+00:00 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/11/letters-1113/ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/01/11/letters-1113/#respond Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:30:08 +0000 https://www.eastbaytimes.com/?p=8713594&preview=true&preview_id=8713594 Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Don’t settle for statusquo on climate change

I appreciate Lisa Krieger’s recent article, “When will we get a break from the storms?” (Page A1, Jan. 10), which provided both a thorough weather forecast and a historical perspective on California’s extreme weather events.

I was disappointed that it ended with the statement that “we should get used to [extreme] storm cycles,” as such a position ignores what actions we can take to minimize and mitigate climate change. A majority of Americans want Congress to act on climate change, and decarbonizing our energy supply is one of the most effective methods. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say developing alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, is a priority for the country.

We must tell Congress to enact bipartisan legislation that supports the nationwide generation, distribution and use of clean energy, and support streamlined building electrification and permitting.

Sarah HubbardSan Mateo

Article mischaracterizesNicaragua immigrants

Re. “Biden walks stretch of U.S.-Mexico border,” Page A1, Jan. 9:

Your article repeats disinformation regarding Nicaraguans fleeing repression and crime. The truth is that Nicaragua is the safest country in Central America and one of the safest in Latin America. Plus, there is no gang-related violence there.

Nicaragua is a very poor country, but since the Sandinistas regained power in 2007, poverty has steadily decreased.

Nicaraguan migration had been very low but has increased due to economic reasons. Our country’s sanctions as well as other U.S. policies against Nicaragua, and the U.S. support of the 2018 coup attempt, have hurt the Nicaraguan economy and its people, especially the poor. If the United States wants to decrease Nicaraguan migration, it should lift the sanctions and stop trying to overthrow the democratically elected President Ortega and the Sandinista government. They are supported by the vast majority of Nicaraguans.

Arlene ReedDiablo

Bush set patternof increasing debt

We should all welcome the goal of eliminating our annual federal deficit. But what is the modern origin of our current federal debt, which is now more than $31 trillion?

Over the next six years, the annual federal deficit soared to more than $500 billion per year. The 2008-09 fiscal year was our first $1 trillion deficit. Under President Bush, total debt went from $5.8 trillion to $11.9 trillion.

The pattern was set for continued annual deficits through the administrations of Obama, Trump and now Biden.

George FulmoreEmeryville

U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Richmond, recently announced that he successfully included $21.7 million in federal funding for 15 projects to benefit Contra Costa County in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 2617).

“My priority in Congress is that I work for you to improve your daily lives and the funding included in this bill will do just that by bolstering public safety, reducing commute times and improving quality of life, increasing access to education and more,” said DeSaulnier.

“I am also delighted that the critical role families in Richmond and West Contra Costa County played in our nation’s World War II home front effort is being recognized. By expanding the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park, visitors will learn more about the East Bay’s trailblazing history,” he said.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, also makes significant investments for families, veterans, and workers by expanding quality, affordable health care, increasing benefits for veterans and delivering critical emergency disaster relief to states. The projects DeSaulnier secured funding for were subject to a strict transparency and accountability process, which is detailed by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. Funding for these projects is expected to be disbursed in short order.

— U.S. Rep. DeSaulnier’s office

WEST CONTRA COSTA

Garamendi sworn in, represents new district in Congress

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, was sworn in Monday to representat California’s newly drawn 8th Congressional District, which includes the cities of El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules, Pinole, Martinez, Suisun City, Pittsburg, Antioch, Vallejo and Fairfield.

“It’s a great honor to continue representing Solano and Contra Costa counties in Congress,” Garamendi said. “My title is ‘Representative,’ and that’s exactly what I will be. My team and I are here to listen and address every need in our community, and I will always lend my voice in service to the people of California’s 8th Congressional District.

“As I was sworn in, I stood with renewed optimism ready to work tirelessly on behalf of the people of Solano and Contra Costa counties to meet the great challenges of our day,” Garamendi concluded.

— U.S. Rep. Garamendi’s office

ALBANY

City seeks applicants to serve on council advisory bodies

Get involved in local government! The city of Albany is seeking applicants to serve on advisory bodies to the City Council. Positions are vacant on all advisory bodies.

Visit the Boards, Commissions & Committees webpage at albanyca.org/government/boards-commissions-committees for more information and to complete the online advisory body application. Please note that the Planning & Zoning and Policing commissions have additional supplemental questionnaires to complete the application.

— city of Albany

To submit an item for our “In brief” section, please email it, at least three days before publication, to njackson@bayareanewsgroup.com. Each item should be 90 to 180 words, include the name of the group or individual to whom it is to be credited and should include a brief headline.

The rain that arrived Sunday in the Bay Area is expected to last until Monday afternoon.

The updating real-time radar map above shows areas of precipitation in green, with greater intensities indicated by yellow and orange.

Updates on road closures and Sierra Nevada chain controls can be found on CalTrans’ website or mobile app or by calling (800) 427-7623.

• Chart: Bay Area rainfall totals

• PG&E outage map: Which Bay Area neighborhoods are without power

•  Full Bay Area weather coverage

The new law is intended to ensure that seniors and other adults — in particular those who rely on cannabis for medicinal reasons — have access marijuana vaping products. Proposed by Supervisor Diane Burgis, the ordinance allows permitted cannabis retailers located in unincorporated areas to sell and deliver the products.

The ordinance passed 3-2 with supervisors Federal Glover and Candace Anderson voting no.

During the first reading of the ordinance on Dec. 6, Burgis said the motivation behind the revised ordinance was that the 2019 law hurt seniors and other adults who rely on cannabis vaping products for both recreational and medical reasons. In particular, it affected homebound seniors in unincorporated areas, she said.

“What we’re trying to do by having policies here in Contra Costa County is to give people a way to access safe products,” Burgis said.

At the December meeting, both Glover and Anderson voted against the ordinance, saying it would send mixed messages to the public and betray an effort led by Contra Costa youth who wanted the ban in the first place.

“We clearly took a leadership position back in 2019 when we had a number of our students throughout this county that came before us and asked for the leadership to put this ban in place,” Glover said. “And I’m not going to turn away from that. I think it’s important that that we listen to our youth when they cry out and ask for this help.”

Glover said there is no evidence “that vaping does not cause problems to individuals” and partially lifting the ban would send “false messages or confusing messages to our public that it’s OK to do this this while at the same time saying that we want to prevent it.”

On Tuesday, groups advocating for cannabis access told the Board of Supervisors that banning pot vape products has created an illicit black market for the product and disproportionately affected vulnerable populations who rely on cannabis primarily for medical reasons.

Renee Lee, a resident of the retirement community of Rossmoor who runs an organization with a mission to help seniors legally access and safety use cannabis, said the majority of medicinal cannabis users in the unincorporated community near Walnut Creek prefer vaping.

“I am so happy,” Lee said after Tuesday’s vote. “It’s like a big weight off my shoulders … (the ordinance) had been very unfair.”

Sarah Armstrong of American for Safe Access, the country’s largest and oldest advocacy organization for medical cannabis patients, said forcing people to travel medicinal marijuana “often stimulates a black market because they simply cannot go to the nearest dispensary if they don’t have one near them.”

Before the vote, Burgis emphasized that the ordinance makes no change to the current ban of tobacco and flavored tobacco vaping products; nor does it allow for new dispensaries in unincorporated areas.

“This does allow the sale of one particular set of cannabis products, which are already sold in many cities of Contra Costa County and are available to purchase in nearly every other part of the state that has approved cannabis retail sales,” she said.

In passing the ordinance, the board also directed Contra Costa Health Services to begin working on an awareness program about the dangers of youth cannabis vaping. Supervisor John Gioia said creation of such a program was a major factor in his decision to support the new legislation.

But Ben has had the most interesting career of all. His entry-level job was at CNN as the “designated John 3:16 tackler.” Let me explain: Back in the 1970s and ’80s, there was a guy called the Rainbow Man who used to insert himself into the picture at televised sports events wearing a multicolored wig and holding a sign reading, “John 3:16” (the Bible passage that reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”). Ben’s job was to tackle him to get him out of the shot.

His next job was as private secretary for Zsa Zsa Gabor. His third job came when he heard that Vin Scully, the great Dodgers announcer, was having trouble setting up his computer. So Ben, a big baseball fan as well as a techno geek, offered to set it up for him.

That led to a friendship and working relationship that had Ben doing a lot of research and writing for Scully and eventually the whole Dodgers organization, for which he set up the first major league team website. And that led in turn to a career as an ace reporter and West Coast producer for Major League Baseball’s website, MLB.com.

He was a welcome visitor at every ballpark in the country. Let me put it this way: He’s on a first-name basis with Sandy Koufax! It doesn’t get any better than that.

But his home base was always Dodger Stadium, and that’s where Ben found a way to indulge his mischievous streak. In the late innings it’s common for fans in the nosebleed seats to move down to the more expensive seats near the field if they see they’re not being used. But it’s technically against the rules.

So Ben would wander through the stadium, and when he spotted a family doing it — usually a father and his kids — he’d tap the guy on the shoulder and say, “Sir, you and your family will have to come with me.”

By the time they got to the elevator, the guy would be sweating bullets. Ben would push the button, and the elevator would descend to the ground floor. When the door opened, they’d find that they were inside the Dodgers dugout — while the game was still going on! Then Ben would hand each kid a brand-new baseball and a sharpie and say, “OK, kids, go get those autographs!” And all the players would sign.

But it all came to a sudden halt five years ago when he and everyone else his age at MLB were laid off and replaced by people 25 years younger. It was more than the loss of a job; it was the loss of a career. And the lost income created strains on his marriage that led to divorce.

And now comes more bad news: Ben has been diagnosed with middle-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Naturally, his brothers are rallying around him (with considerable help from their significant others). They’re trying to provide not only for his medical treatment, but also his living expenses for the rest of his life.

“In the meantime, we’ve created a project for Ben to work on to keep him focused and energized,” says Jon. “He not only loves baseball; his other big passion is sports movies. We’re creating a sports movie website and database with Ben’s old boss for him to watch films, research and provide information that will be part of this website’s database. We shipped him about 40 sports movies last month, and there will be a lot more to come.”

The website is scheduled to go online in April. They’ve also set up a GoFundMe campaign (gofund.me/e5ff381f) to help pay his bills. I know their mom would be proud of all three of them. I sure am.

Martin Snapp can be reached at catman442@comcast.net.

Wind gusts hit 44 mph in Oakland and 38 mph in San Francisco, pulling down plenty of branches and, in some cases, toppling entire trees. According to a frequently updated Pacific Gas and Electric Company outage map, thousands of customers were without power during the late Sunday and early Monday morning hours.

It's going to get windier soon – Here's a look at the timing of strong winds coming thru overnight with strongest winds occurring between 12-8 am. Be cautious of downed trees and powerlines, especially given the saturated soils. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/pNnxhFO561

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 9, 2023

While dangers from high winds were expected to calm after the morning, moderate to heavy rains were forecast throughout the day. Forecasts showed between one-half and three-quarter inches of rain headed to San Jose and San Francisco on Monday afternoon, and as much as one inch in Walnut Creek.

Rainfall totals from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed nearly 0.95 inches in San Jose, 1.38 inches in Oakland and 1.44 inches in downtown San Francisco as of 12:45 p.m. Monday. Mt. Diablo had received two inches.

The winds were expected to slow gradually to mid-30 mph gusts by Wednesday, but the rain isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. According to NWS predictions, the scattered rain bands could regroup overnight and give bigger downpours to certain areas, namely the Santa Cruz mountains and the coastline.

Get live Bay Area storm updates with details on evacuations, flooding and damage

Forecasts for Tuesday showed between one-quarter and one-half of an inch of rain in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, with a near-repeat prediction for Wednesday. Temperatures were expected to be consistently in the high 50s throughout the week, with lows in the high 40s.

NWS meteorologist Brayden Murdock called the upcoming rain systems weaker than what the Bay Area has seen in multple storms since Dec. 31, but said they’ll be “consistent.”

“There’s still really good chances of rain throughout our seven-day forecast,” he said.

The influx of downpours and weather-related damages are something that Bay Area residents perhaps weren’t prepared for since the region simply hasn’t seen a string of systems like this in some time, Murdock said. He added that the recent systems have been reminiscent of the 2017 events which saw massive flooding in Santa Clara County.

“We have been on quite the dry pattern,” Murdock said. “I think a lot of people got used to that. As far as our tolerance for rain goes, this has been sticking out like a sore thumb.”

Saturated soils from prior storms increased chances of flooding near several Bay Area rivers and creeks. In an early Monday morning bulletin, the NWS warned of flood dangers at the Alameda Creek near Niles, Arroyo de la Laguna at Verona, Guadalupe River above Highway 101 in San Jose, Coyote Creek above Highway 237 in Milpitas and in Edenvale, Pacheco Creek near Dunneville and the San Lorenzo River.

Late Monday morning, officials closed southbound lanes of Highway 101 in Gilroy due to flooding near the Mesa Road exit.

The San Lorenzo River reached flood stage before dawn Monday morning, with water just inches from the bottom of two bridges, including the historic Covered Bridge. County officials ordered in the Felton Grove neighborhood near the Covered Bridge and the Paradise Park area down river near Santa Cruz.

In downtown Felton, floodwater closed the main intersection at Mount Hermon and Graham Hill roads, trapping a motorist from Ben Lomond who had to have rescue crews push her car out of the water to safety.

“I saw other cars making it through there,” explained motorist Julie Armstrong, 76, from Ben Lomond, conceding that in hindsight, “I shouldn’t have done that!”

San Lorenzo River heading into downtown Santa Cruz looks like the Amazon, but rain has stopped and isn’t forecast to resume till tonight pic.twitter.com/BWzuqrRQi5

— EthanBaron (@ethanbaron) January 9, 2023

Several slides and fallen trees caused closures on Santa Cruz County highways Monday morning. A slide on southbound State Route 17 south of Glenwood Drive forced a road closure, per California Highway Patrol.

Please avoid the area https://t.co/UuK4dcZ82k

— CHP Santa Cruz (@CHPscrz) January 9, 2023

Also closed were Highway 9 and Holiday Lane near Highlands County Park in Ben Lomond after a slide, and one lane of Highway 1 south of River Street near downtown Santa Cruz, where debris in the San Lorenzo River was trapped under the roadway.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for the lower-lying areas near Soquel Creek throughout the county. The Capitola Police Department ordered evacuations in the low-lying residences along lower Riverview and Capitola Village, which was heavily damaged after a storm last week. Evacuation orders and warnings were also issued for much of eastern portion of the town of Watsonville.

With the San Lorenzo River at flood stage, evacuations have begun in the Felton Grove and Paradise Park areas. Soquel Creek has reached action stage. Check your zone at https://t.co/s5GvnC3vMN.

— Santa Cruz County (@sccounty) January 9, 2023

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order Monday morning for low-lying areas of the Carmel River near Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel River Elementary School and Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo are both located within the mandatory evacuation zones.

The county opened an emergency shelter for evacuated residents in the Monterey County Fairgrounds located at 2004 Fairground Road.

Storm warnings were enough to prompt a response from the White House. Late Sunday night, President Joe Biden declared an emergency in the State of California, ordering federal assistance to assist with response efforts for damage resulting from storms. The declaration authorized the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts in 17 California counties, including San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz.

But the Bay Area’s vast network of gauges, strategically placed and linked to powerful telecommunication lines and computers, offer early warning of rising waters, helping protect lives and property from flood damage.

“We can tell first responders, with some certainty, that our gauges are saying it’s going to be a flood-prone area in one hour and 45 minutes,” said Kevin Murray of the Palo Alto-based San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority. “That gives them some time to get ahead of the disaster.”

This week, with a series of storms just past and more on their way, experts patrolled rivers and creeks to inspect and recalibrate their precious tools to ensure the accuracy of water data. After last Saturday’s fierce storm, they ask: Is the equipment still working? Have flow conditions changed due to downed trees, clogged bridges, eroded banks or blocked storm drains?

“We’ve been out with replacement equipment, assessing problems, assembling the pieces and doing repairs so that everything is operational,” said geologist Scott Brown with Berkeley-based Balance Hydrologics, a consulting firm that helps Bay Area agencies manage flood warning systems.

“With additional storms coming, we need to mobilize fast in order to get everything back up and running again,” he said.

Even as climate change increases the risk of floods, protection strategies are shifting away from structural measures, such as walls, gates and levees. The role of prediction, and warnings, is growing.

The gauges can provide days or hours of advance notice, giving residents time to sandbag, move cars, help the homeless, lift electronics and precious antiques off the floor — or seek higher ground.

On New Year’s Eve, a gauge on the Stanford campus alerted authorities at 8:43 a.m. that San Francisquito Creek, between Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, had reached “flood monitoring stage” and was continuing to rise. At 9:06 a.m., officials issued a public flood advisory. At 9:30 a.m., residents were alerted that within a half-hour, flooding was likely at Palo Alto’s narrow Pope-Chaucer Bridge. Water rose to about 21 feet, frighteningly close to overflowing the creek banks.

Other watersheds may allow more time, and earlier warning, said Jack Xu, senior engineer at Santa Clara Valley Water District. For instance, flooding along San Jose’s Guadalupe River can be forecast two to three hours in advance. Coyote Creek flooding may take a day. But in urban concrete channels, water may need only 30 minutes to flow from the mountains to downtowns.

Surveillance starts two to three weeks in advance of a storm, said Xu.

Weather is notoriously tough to predict in the Bay Area, a mountainous landscape perched on the edge of the cold ocean. Low and fast-moving jets of moist air scatter into a patchwork quilt pattern of precipitation, affecting locales differently.

Looking ahead at long-range weather forecasts, Xu said, “We see: ‘Is it a wet pattern? Is it a dry pattern?’ When you see back-to-back storms, you know you have to plan resources and think, operationally, about how you’re going to move water, if you need to.”

Plans get more targeted as time draws near, because forecasts improve within 10 days of a storm. “But if the forecast is inaccurate, everything downstream is wrong,” said Xu.

Using computer models, they calculate how much of the predicted rainfall will become runoff, based on past history, soil saturation and local geology.

The big decisions start five days before a storm, Xu said. There are regional conference calls with PG&E, other utilities and various cities, where they ponder: Should they release water from reservoirs to make room for additional runoff? Do they need to boost staffing? “We weigh the consequences with the risk,” Xu said.

Crews on the ground assess a creek’s condition, looking for debris and other risks. This effort is intensified if winds are forecast.

Once the storm lands, the role of rain gauges becomes critical. Perched in distant mountains, these gauges — pipes with a funnel, bucket and tipping mechanism at the top — measure precipitation. They tell officials what to expect.

Stream gauges have a membrane that precisely measures the depth of water and converts it into a flow rate. They transmit every hour and send a packet of four 15-minute time stamps. When a certain threshold is reached, the sensors can send data every five minutes.

Contra Costa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District manages 32 rain gauges and 16 stream gauges. The Santa Clara Valley Water District has a network of 70 stream and rain gauges. Alameda County has about 90 rain and stream gauges.

These gauges, powered by solar panels, send electronic signals to data loggers via radio, landlines, cell phone signals or satellites. With ever-increasing computer power, software processes the many signals into a computer database, which monitors the information as it is received. It triggers a warning when certain thresholds — say, water filling 80 percent of a creek’s capacity — are reached.

When waters run high, officials must decide whether to issue an electronic flood alert to local residents downstream. Because different locations have different flood risks, the warnings can be localized.

A revolution in technology is allowing for better forecasting. Over the past decade, the National Weather Service has developed weather models that are better suited to the West Coast, and widespread availability of cell services means it’s easier to transmit real-time information, Xu said. Supercomputing allows more advanced calculations, under many different scenarios.

New “X-Band Radar” is helping estimate rainfall in specific communities. In Contra Costa County, radar was installed last month on Rocky Ridge near Las Trampas Regional Preserve, according to hydrologist Mark Boucher. Radar for the Santa Clara Valley Water District sits atop the Penitencia Water Treatment Plant facility. They are part of a future regional network of radars — including Marin, Sonoma, San Francisco and Santa Cruz — that will provide local data about atmospheric rivers.

As new storms approach, “we’re watching, because every day it might change,” Xu said. “Because it’s nature, there are a lot of unknowns, so our response needs to be ready.”

During their Dec. 20 meeting, El Cerrito City Council thanked Councilmember Janet Abelson, who is retiring after 23 years of public service, including having served as the city’s mayor five times during her record six terms as a councilmember.

While in office, Abelson championed change on a number of key issues. Abelson’s primary legislative slant is improving accessibility in all modes of transportation; after her retirement, Abelson will continue to serve on a number of transportation committees, such as the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee and Contra Costa Transportation Authority.

A wheelchair user since 1984, Abelson does not drive and relies completely on public transportation. With firsthand experience of the city’s infrastructure, Abelson knew the changes that needed to occur. While in office, Abelson served as a voice for her community, never forgetting the disadvantaged and disabled in her advocacy. Thanks to Abelson, low-income students in West Contra Costa County can get free bus passes through the Student Bus Pass Program.

When asked about a piece of legislation she’s most proud of, without hesitation, Abelson mentioned the 2014 San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan, in which she played a key role in pressing for a number of key divisions, including reducing parking requirements, expanding maximum height limitations for buildings and optimizing the Environmental Impact Review processes to enable future development.

“San Pablo Avenue doesn’t look the same as it did 10 years ago. There’s a lot more housing now — multifamily housing in particular — which is a very important thing because it feeds into transit accessibility,” said Abelson. “We updated the city’s transit policy for this corridor, which means that we will continue to expand public infrastructure in the future.”

— Tripepi Smith

ALBANY

City seeks applicants to serve on council advisory bodies

Get involved in local government! The city of Albany is seeking applicants to serve on advisory bodies to the City Council. Positions are vacant on all advisory bodies.

Visit the Boards, Commissions & Committees webpage at albanyca.org/government/boards-commissions-committees for more information and to complete the online advisory body application. Please note that the Planning & Zoning and Policing commissions have additional supplemental questionnaires to complete the application.

— city of Albany

BERKELEY

Help build community center for local unhoused youth

Sustainable Housing at California (SHAC) is an interdisciplinary team of UC Berkeley students working with Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA), a Berkeley-based nonprofit that provides art jobs and job training programs to unhoused youth to be an environmentally sustainable part of the solution to the Bay Area’s housing crisis.

SHAC is designing and building the Sustainability, Education and Arts Development (SEAD) Center that will anchor the expansion of YSA’s existing Tiny Home Empowerment Village for unhoused youth to house 20 to 30 additional local youth. Based on desires voiced by current Tiny Home Empowerment Village residents and input from industry experts, the SEAD Center will provide a venue for youth to study, socialize and receive professional development services while incorporating sustainable technologies and practices to reduce its environmental impact.

SHAC needs the public’s help to build the next Tiny House Empowerment Village and SEAD Center. Please support this project by donating or sharing SHAC’s GoFundMe campaign (gofund.me/7e838641) to help cover construction and material costs to bring critical housing and recreational space to unhoused youth in Oakland.

— SHAC

To submit an item for our “In brief” section, please email it, at least three days before publication, to njackson@bayareanewsgroup.com. Each item should be 90 to 180 words, include the name of the group or individual to whom it is to be credited and should include a brief headline.