A wet weekend followed by back-to-back storms could lead to flooding in some portions of Palo Alto next week, city officials warn.
Rich Mallonee, Palo Alto’s interim Office of Emergency Services coordinator, said city and state officials throughout the area are preparing for rains and winds this weekend followed by storms that are expected to begin Tuesday and last through Christmas.
Mallonee said the city’s main concern is water runoff from local creeks next week, particularly around the flood-prone San Francisquito Creek.
“Because of the rain we’ll get this weekend, the ground will be saturated and we could get lots of runoff,” Mallonee said. “If there are back-to-back storms, there’s no way for the ground to absorb the water.”
Mallonee said residents could pick up sandbags at Mitchell Park and at the Palo Alto Airport. He also urged residents to stay away from the creeks during the storms and to make sure the drains in front of their houses aren’t clogged with leaves, branches and other debris.
Residents can monitor the water level in the San Francisquito Creek on the city’s website, City of Palo Alto.
I want to thank the city street cleaning crew who did a great job on my street this morning. Our gutters are nice and clean all down the street.
Except for the area around my low IQ neighbor who forgot to move his cars on street cleaning day.
Maybe he doesn’t know. It is surprising to some that so many do not know what day the street cleaners clean their streets.
Does anyone know when the creek monitor will be back on line? It is giving broken data all Friday afternoon.
Creek monitor seems to be working right now: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/earlywarning/creekmonitor.html