SPECIAL REPORT: Preparing the flood-prone areas of the Central Coast

After four years of drought, all eyes are on El Nio and the more than 50% chance of a wetter than average year.

Officials on the Central Coast are paying close attention.

“A lot of training,” Monterey County Emergency Manager Sherrie Collins said. “We’ve done exercises and workshops.”

Collins said they’re getting prepared for flooding: “We have sand bags pre-positioned and located throughout the county.”

In the city of Monterey, first responders are getting ready for all of the things that can happen during storm season. In forested areas, drought-stressed trees can come crashing down with strong winds. And parts of Monterey have a history of flooding.

“The low area of Monterey around Lake El Estero,” Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer said. “The stretch of Del Monte from about the Naval Postgraduate School to the downtown area.”

Panholzer said coastal communities can also see high surges at the beach, which draw people dangerously close. “While it may look pretty impressive to watch the crashing waves, they can come up and grab somebody fairly quickly and sweep them out.”

The Santa Cruz Fire Department said they’ve been brushing up on procedures and training.

“Our specialty is the ocean rescues. If somebody is in trouble because of the high surf or because of something on the coast, then we have that specialty,” explained Chief Jim Frawley.

While cities and counties are doing their part to make sure roadways don’t flood, Caltrans crews in Santa Cruz are keeping an eye on one of its busiest thoroughfares. In a single day, nearly 60,000 vehicles travel on Highway 17 across the summit from Santa Cruz over to the South Bay. Making sure the windy mountain highway is safe is a priority

“We’re cleaning up the drainage ditches and some of the drainage inlets, and removing dead trees and dead limbs that could fall down during a storm or high winds,” said Christopher Cook, Assistant Resident Engineer for Caltrans.

In northern San Benito County, public works officials are keeping an eye on Pacheco Creek and the San Benito River.

In Salinas, there’s concern in several places, including the north side of town, where Russell Road flooded last year. Santa Rita, Bolsa Knolls, and the low lying areas off Kern also saw the most damage in 1995.

Chris Cave is the Flood Control Manager and has been working in Santa Cruz for 26 years. He said certain neighborhoods are more prone to flooding.

“They’re mostly in the low-lying areas. Beach flats, lower Ocean Street, and downtown.”

His department has made important changes to six pump stations after experiencing some blockage last year. “This year we’ve made improvements to the screens, and we’ve also added addition telemetry to give us advanced warning when these things are in trouble.”

While local agencies are doing their part, you need to be prepared too.

“We want to make sure that people are ready as an individual, as a family, and as a neighborhood to get ready for anything that might happen to them,” explained Collins.

Officials are trying to get the word out, and want people to sign up for emergency alerts through their county. This will trigger phone calls, texts, and emails in seconds whenever there’s an emergency.

For Monterey County, click here.

For Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, click here.

To find out what kinds of hazards can occur where you live and see if you’re in a flood plain, click here.

We’ve also put together a top ten list of things you need to know to be prepared for El Nio. You can get to that by clicking here.