Sonoma County proclaims emergency ahead of expected El Niño-fueled storm season
By Carlos E. Castañeda
Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday issued an emergency proclamation ahead of the developing El Niño season that is predicted to cause heavy rain during the winter.
The proclamation from the county Board of Supervisors said directs county departments, Sonoma Water, and sanitation districts to prepare a prioritized list of threatened or vulnerable infrastructure, along with coordinating a response with cities, special districts, tribal partners and state emergency managers.
The county’s action comes two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency to ramp up preparations for a powerful El Niño expected to strengthen heading into winter. The declaration said that the anticipated impacts of the storm are likely to require the combined resources of multiple jurisdictions and mutual aid regions.
Forecasters say there is a 75% chance that El Niño could reach historic levels this winter.
“The best time to prepare for a flood is before a storm,” Sonoma County Board of Supevisors chair Rebecca Hermosillo said in a statement. “We know that this could be a particularly strong El Niño season, so we need to make sure we are prepared before the rains even start.”
The county said that crews have been clearing culverts and flood-control channels, checking areas with a history of flooding or slides, and staging sandbags in locations across the county.
Meanwhile in Marin County, the City of San Rafael on Monday declared its own local emergency ahead of the storm season, and urged residents to prepare for flooding and take steps to reduce storm impacts.
