Our Town: Around town

BOOMING BUSINESS . . . As the rain poured down last week, many Midpeninsula residents decided not to leave their homes, preferring to rent videos and order pizza delivered. "My business went up 20 percent last week, from Monday when the big flood came all the way until (Sunday)," said Bob Larson, owner of Round Table Pizza in Menlo Park. It also helps that his shop is five doors down from Blockbuster Video. "My attitude is as long as nobody gets hurt, bring on the catastrophes." Blockbuster Video in downtown Palo Alto had a $10,000 increase in rentals last week, compared to the same week last year. Store manager Kamyar Shirallie said new releases and dramas, even the two-tape kind, were popular. One of the most popular rentals was "The English Patient."

SHELTER CLOSED . . . The Palo Alto chapter of the American Red Cross closed down its emergency shelter at Cubberley Community Center Feb. 8 after the last of the flood victims went home or found other shelter. Red Cross spokeswoman Jen Frazier said the shelter served 200 people Feb. 3, with numbers slowly dwindling as the week went on. The shelter served people from Palo Alto, but some East Palo Alto residents were bused to Cubberley in the early hours of Feb. 3 when the Bell Street shelter in East Palo Alto reached capacity. A second shelter was later opened in East Palo Alto.

HELP FOR THE HELPERS . . . When a disaster like last week's flood hits, the American Red Cross stands tall, providing warm shelters, hot food and kind words to people who are often in emotional shock over what happened to them. Now, the helpers are requesting help. The Palo Alto chapter of the Red Cross has been forced from its building at 400 Mitchell Lane near the train station because of flood damage, and it lost supplies and teaching aids in the process. Red Cross officials are requesting financial donations from the community to help make up for what it lost in the flood. Anyone wishing to make a donation can call 688-0415 or send a check to the American Red Cross, 400 Mitchell Lane, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (the mail will be forwarded). The Red Cross also wants to thank several businesses that pitched in to help last week, including Whole Foods, Hobee's, Safeway, Una Mas and Peet's.

CREEK WATER HAZARD . . . It's obvious that rushing creek waters are hazardous, but some residents have discovered another hazard the hard way: poison oak. One Palo Alto resident, who was ankle deep in the floodwater of San Francisquito Creek, ended up with a terrible case of the itchy rash, just from touching the water. Santa Clara County Public Health Nurse Marcia Majors confirms that creeks and rivers can carry poison oak oils, even from a mile upstream. Those who are extremely sensitive to the plant are usually the ones to get it from the water. The antidote: keep the area clean, dry, and slather it with Caladryl.

SILVER LINING . . . There were few silver linings to last week's storm clouds. But visitors to downtown Palo Alto may have noticed that parking tickets were few and far between after Tuesday morning's floods. That's because the civilian police officers who normally dole out tickets were busy helping with traffic control and flood clean-up Tuesday, according to Dave Dudley of the Palo Alto Police Department. Dudley said that the ticket officers were back in full force by Wednesday, but downtown employees said the continued rain must have dampened the ticket books, since still few tickets were given, even to blatant scofflaws. Maybe the chalk marks washed away?

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