|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Forecasters say heavy rainfall and strong winds are expected to move through the region Wednesday through early Thursday.
“While there continues to be low flood risk based on the revised forecast, the forecast notes a small (0-5%) chance of a creek flow rate high enough to potentially cause a repeat of 2022’s New Year’s Eve flood,” according to a city of East Palo Alto Facebook post. “With the ground already saturated from previous storms, and the anticipated heavy rainfall this week, the community is encouraged to sign-up for emergency alerts at smcgov.org/dem/smc-alert and prepare for the storms in advance. … Equipment continues to be stationed at the Pope/Chaucer bridge, and the City is prepared to deploy additional equipment in case there is a need to quickly remove debris at other creek locations during a heavy rain flow.”
Residents are advised to expect downed trees, power outages, and flooding of roadways and streams.
A Flood Watch will be in effect for portions of central and northern California from Wednesday night into Thursday night. A Wind Advisory is issued for the coastal North Bay to portions of the north Central Coast from 4 a.m. Wednesday into 4 a.m. Thursday.
From 3 p.m. Wednesday into 3 p.m. Thursday, a High Surf Advisory will also be in effect for San Francisco, the Coastal North Bay, including Point Reyes National Seashore, the San Francisco Peninsula Coast, and the Northern Monterey Bay, Southern Monterey Bay, and Big Sur Coast Counties.
According to forecasters, light rain chances persist through late week, with another impactful system possible on Sunday.
In Redwood City, Terrence Kyaw, Redwood City Public Works director, said city public works crews have prepared by cleaning the storm drain inlets of debris and are monitoring water levels in the Bayfront Canal. He said they will manage the storm pumps near the mobile home parks at East Bayshore Road to help mitigate flooding risks.
The city has a sandbag station set up at its corporation yard at 1400 Broadway. Residents needing assistance can call 650-780-7464 before arriving, and a public works employee will load their vehicle with sandbags.
The sandbag station has shovels and bags; residents can take up to 24 bags if needed.
During the storm, Kyaw said city crews would be roaming around the city, picking up storm debris and ensuring their drainage systems were working properly.
Kyaw is asking residents to be safe and alert during the storms. If they notice downed trees, water issues, traffic light issues or any storm-related problems to contact the Public Works phone line at 650-780-7464 during business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. after business hours. The line will be forwarded to the Redwood City Police Department.
Residents can also report issues using the MyRWC app.
Here’s how to prepare for the storm and resources for when it hits.
If your power is out, how to check when it will be restored
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) maintains a live map of outages with information on how long power has been out, how many households are being affected and when it’s expected to be restored here:
pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outage-tools/outage-map
Sign up for emergency alerts, ‘know your zone’
San Mateo County can send emergency alerts, important public safety updates, and notices of road closures to your phone. Sign up at smcgov.org/ceo/smc-alert.
Sign up for emergency alerts in Redwood City at RedwoodCity.org/EmergencyAlerts.
The Peninsula is carved out into about 300 zones on an online map supported by Zonehaven.
All residents can enter an address to find their zone.
During an emergency, first responders can issue orders or advisories based by zone.
Where to go if you need shelter and power
In case of a power outage due to high winds, Redwood City facilities will be open to the public Wednesday-Friday to provide shelter and power at the following locations:
- Community Activities Building, 1400 Roosevelt Ave.
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Downtown Library, 1044 Middlefield Road
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Fair Oaks Community Center, 2600 Middlefield Road
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Red Morton Community Center, 1120 Roosevelt Ave
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Redwood Shores Library, 399 Marine Pkwy
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: Closed
- Sandpiper Community Center, 797 Redwood Shores Pkwy
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 12 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 12 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Schaberg Branch Library, 2140 Euclid Ave.
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: Closed
- Veterans Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Ave.
- Wednesday, Jan. 31: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 1: 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 2: 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
For families or individuals in need of shelter due to the cold temperatures and inclement weather, call Fair Oaks Community Center at 650-780-7500 or visit us at 2600 Middlefield Road, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. If after hours, call (650) 780-7100 (Police Dispatch) to access emergency shelter.
Pick up sandbags
Redwood City:
Pick up sandbags are at 1400 Broadway in Redwood City at the southeast corner of the public parking lot at the City Corporation Yard.
More information here.
Menlo Park:
There are three locations to pick up sandbags in Menlo Park:
- The parking lot at Burgess Drive/Alma Street
- Menlo Park Fire Station 77: 1467 Chilco Street
- Temporary pop-up at Pope Street island: 222 Laurel Ave.
More information here.
East Palo Alto:
Sand, shovel and bags available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at 50 Tara Road across Bay Road, the Public Works Corporation Yard.
More information here.
Atherton:
There is self-service sandbag station at Holbrook-Palmer Park, 150 Watkins Avenue, in the rear parking lot. Limit five sandbags per residence.
More information here.
Portola Valley:
Portola Valley offers sandbags at Town Center, 765 Portola Road, along the southern driveway, across from the basketball courts.
More information here.
Woodside:
Sandbags are available at Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Road in Woodside, for Woodside residents and businesses.
More information here.
Countywide list:
A list of sandbag pickup locations throughout the county can be found here.
A guide to properly use sandbags:
Miscellaneous
Portola Valley residents can report storm-related issues — like a pothole or downed tree through the PV Connect app. Larger maintenance problems should be reported to the Public Works Department at 650-851-1700 or towncenter@portolavalley.net.
In Redwood City call to report fallen trees, flooding, sewer spills, blocked storm drains to Public Works at 650-780-7464.
Tune your portable and car radios to 1680 AM for emergency broadcasts from the town of Portola Valley. Listen to a streaming broadcast here.
Check the Atherton Channel sensor for current water levels from OneShoreline.
Check the San Francisquito Creek Levels monitoring site from the city of Palo Alto or through the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority.
Current fire dispatch responses can be found here.
— Bay City News Service contributed to this report
