The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local emergency on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to prepare for a potentially powerful El Niño winter that could bring flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, high winds and power outages.
Why it matters: The proclamation lets the county's Department of Emergency Management move on preparations with fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and officials want residents to get ready before storms arrive.
What the county is doing
The proclamation created an El Niño Preparedness and Response Task Force through the end of March, led by emergency management director Dr. Shruti Dhapodkar, The Almanac reported. The task force will track work to clear drains and culverts, check equipment and prepare sandbag locations, and make sure alerts are available in multiple languages, the county said. Caltrans and PG&E may also take part.
NOAA's Oct. 8 outlook gave a greater than 83% chance of a strong to very strong El Niño through January to March 2027, according to the county.
"The greatest danger is not any single hazard but the combination of multiple hazardous conditions," County Executive Mike Callagy said, pointing to storms arriving on high tides and heavy rain on saturated hillsides.
What residents should do
- Sign up for SMC Alert emergency notifications.
- Check whether your home or workplace is in a flood or landslide risk area.
- Make a household plan and gather water, food, medicine, flashlights and batteries.
- Clear gutters and drains where safe, and ask your insurer about flood coverage.
- Never drive through flooded roads.
Where to get sandbags
The Almanac listed sandbag sites in Menlo Park (Burgess Park parking lot and Fire Station 77), East Palo Alto (Public Works Corporation Yard, 150 Tara Road) and Redwood City (Public Works Services Yard, 1400 Broadway). Redwood City also launched an Adopt-a-Drain program.
San Francisco and Santa Clara County's Valley Water have made similar emergency declarations.
Sources: County of San Mateo; The Almanac.