As the season’s first intense smattering of rain descends upon the Bay Area Tuesday, San Jose officials are advising residents to keep their curbs free of debris and to call 311 in the event of heavily backed-up storm drains.
The National Weather Service’s latest forecast predicts rain to start around midnight on Tuesday morning, with nearly an inch of water expected to fall on San Jose, a storm that is being described as a “typical winter” system as opposed to the atmospheric rivers that barreled through the region this past winter.
Even so, San Jose’s Mayor Matt Mahan and Valley Water CEO Rick Callender on Tuesday said agencies were preparing for the worst by ordering outreach teams to make contact with homeless residents who reside along the area’s rivers and closely watching the most flood-prone parts of the city.
Officials are also making plans for what is expected to be a very wet winter, the second straight year of rain-filled weather for the Bay Area.
“It looks like we have El Niño conditions,” said Mayor Mahan at a press conference on Tuesday. “We could be hit with a series of atmospheric rivers once again.”
Most at risk for flooding in the coming months are Coyote, Ross and Penetencia creeks, along with the Guadalupe River, officials said, though no immediate evacuation announcements have been made at this time.
Officials are still waiting to determine whether an order would be made to clear San Jose’s homeless residents by the rivers, which the city did previously through an emergency proclamation in January amid heavy rainfall. Hundreds were moved to emergency shelters run by the American Red Cross.
Many of the city’s homeless have already been cleared out of the creeks and rivers because of construction projects that are flood-proofing San Jose’s waterways, said Assistant City Manager Lee Wilcox. The federally mandated flood protection project will bring 6,000 feet of walls from Old Oakland Road to Interstate 280 with an expected completion date of December 2024.
This week’s rain is expected to fall across a five-day period, with areas in Oakland in San Francisco expected to take the brunt of the storm.
Alexander Gordon, who works in Valley Water’s emergency, safety and security division, said that he expects this week’s stormwater to likely be absorbed by the ground, since its been months since the region has seen intense rainfall.
But a series of storms, where the ground becomes too saturated, could cause flooding.
“I think you’ll see this week a lot of absorption of the water coming into the ground,” he said in an interview. “Not so much water runoff into the creeks. But in the subsequent storms, it just starts to run off.”
Last winter’s storms saw a concerted effort by city officials to warn residents in advance of the incoming storms – with hopes that a repeat of a series of 2017 storms that caused lawsuits and criticisms over government response wouldn’t happen again.
On Tuesday, standing before Valley Water’s flood protection construction site project near Coyote Creek, officials maintained that they had learned the mistakes of year’s past and were covering their bases.
“Remember, we’re all partners to prepare for flood prevention,” said Valley Water Director Richard Santos. “And you, the public, please be our ears and eyes. Give us a call with any concerns you have.”