More rain is on the way in Palo Alto. We have a massive amount of information on our website at www.cityofpaloalto.org/storms so you can be ready for significant weather that may occur during the winter season. There’s info on how to prepare, how to monitor creek levels in real-time, where to get sandbags, how to get emergency alerts from the City, what to do if flooding is present or imminent, and more.
Here are a few highlights you may find handy:
1) We’ll be using the hashtag #PaloAltoStorm on our social media channels, should the need arise for emergency updates. Follow along on our Twitter account at www.twitter.com/PaloAltoPolice; no Twitter account is required – simply head to that page and refresh it as necessary to read our tweets.
2) Sandbags. If you live in an area that historically has been prone to flooding, come get sandbags in advance of the storm from one of the three sandbag stations in town: at Rinconada Park, Mitchell Park, and the Palo Alto Airport. Once the inventory of filled sandbags has been depleted, there will be loose sand and empty bags at each of those three stations; bring a shovel and you can fill more bags yourself. For a map of sandbag station locations, see www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/48987.
3) Bookmark www.cityofpaloalto.org/StormMap. If our Emergency Operations Center opens, we’ll be live-updating this map with major incidents in town like flooding and ponding, wires down, debris in the roadway, and so forth.
4) Bookmark www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/pwd/creek_monitor/creek_monitor_only.asp to access our real-time creek monitor. Information is available on water levels at three locations along San Francisquito Creek, as well as water levels of Matadero Creek and Adobe Creek. Tide information is also available.
5) Please do your part to reduce ponding on our roadways. If you have a storm drain near your home, please help us by periodically clearing out leaves and debris from it so that rainwater can run off the roadways unobstructed.
6) To report blocked storm drains or fallen trees this weekend, please call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413.
7) To report gas leaks or sewer spills, please call the City at 650-329-2579.
8) To report power outages and electrical problems, please call City Electric Operations at 650-496-6914. To view Palo Alto Utilities power outage information, see www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/utl/residents/outages/default.asp.
Again, please visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/storms for plenty of details on flood information and winter storms.
