Preparations in Place Ahead of Central Coast Storm
Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Local county and city officials say preparations are in place ahead of this week’s upcoming storm.
In Santa Maria, the Public Works Department has been getting set for the precipitation that is expected to fall over the next few days.
“We’re looking at two to three inches coming into Santa Maria,” said Brett Fulgoni, Santa Maria Public Works Director. “Luckily, it’s going to be spread out, but nonetheless a good a good rain event, so our crews, when this happens, we go out and pre-stage different equipment around town, get ready to close roads if needed, make sure storm drains are cleared and, make sure that any road hazards are highlighted.”
Fulgoni added drivers will need to be especially careful in many of the newly repaved streets that have been worked on over the past several weeks.
“We’ve certainly had a lot of construction around town,” said Fulgoni. “There’s new traffic patterns on on various roadways and there’s new chip seal on roads, so the way the road has reacted in the past may not be the way the road is going to react in the storm, so just take it easy and be careful. We do expect Black Road to flood. That will likely be closed, but otherwise there’s just so much construction happening around the city that it’s important for people to just take care and and be careful around those construction zones.”
In San Luis Obispo County, officials there are also keeping a close eye on the forecast and are ready to react should any weather-related situations warrant a response.
“What the county’s really doing at this point is just trying to get people prepared,” said Anita Konopa, San Luis Obispo County Emergency Services Coordinator. “It’s kind of our same messaging that we always give before a significant storm, but really hoping that people are listening to that message, so be aware of your surroundings. If you live in an area that’s prone to flooding, now’s the time to go get those sandbags and get them filled up and get them in place. If you’re going to have to travel during the weather, make sure that you have gas. Make sure that your windshield wipers are working. If you don’t need to be out on the road, maybe don’t travel this evening and through this weekend, so just some of those things that that we encourage people to do before every storm.”
As for any particular geographic area that could see more impacts than others, Konopa indicated the North Coast may receive more significant rainfall that other county locations.
“There are two different areas that we’re kind of looking at what National Weather Service is telling us is that, the highest intensity of rain and the most amount of rain could be in the Santa Lucia mountains, so kind of looking at the North Coast and Cambria, those areas tend to get more rain in general,” said Konopa. “That is supposed to prove true for this storm as well. Depending on which outlook you’re looking at from the National Weather Service, we could be looking at upwards of three inches in the Cambria area, so people in that area should definitely be prepared for potential flooding should that forecast come true.
“What National Weather Service is telling us is that, the highest intensity of rain and the most amount of rain is kind of be in the Santa Lucia mountains.”
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