SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The highly anticipated winter storm has arrived in the Bay Area Wednesday morning, disrupting commuters on the road, local schools and threatening residents.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Public safety officials in the North Bay have asked residents to stay off the roads, to move vehicles to higher ground if possible and to make sure they have flashlights and batteries. There are major concerns about flooding and downed trees due to heavy rain and gale-force winds.
Sonoma County Supervisor Linda Hopkins, who represents the rural west county, said this storm system is "unusual."
"One of the interesting things about this storm is that we haven't experienced gale-force winds plus this level of deluge in combination together in recent memory, and so the opportunity for downed trees and the impacts for people's homes and to our road system is really substantial," she said.
Wind gusts are forecast to reach upwards of 50 miles per hour in Bay Area valleys and 60 miles per hour in higher elevation. Much of Northern California is already waterlogged following an intense rain period last week. A Marin County arborist told KCBS Radio he's worried as the previous storm already caused many trees to fall and saturated the soil. "You add additional saturation and higher wind forces and it exponentially increases the amount of trees that come over," he explained.
Ahead of the worst of the storm, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency throughout California Wednesday. The emergency proclamation supports relief efforts, including authorizing the mobilization of the California National Guard to support disaster response and directing Caltrans to request immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief Program.
Dr. Laura Sullivan-Green, a professor and chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at San Jose State University, gave KCBS Radio an insight on the biggest infrastructural risks due to the storm. "We definitely have an issue with (mud) slides in the Bay Area," she said. "There is a little bit we can do, but we can't resist everything mother nature throws at us. One of the things that we can do is observe where slides have happened and adapt and also maintain as much drainage opportunity as we can."
Karla Nemeth, the head of the State Department of Water, told KCBS Radio that "significant flooding" will continue from local creeks and rivers across California, warning that times of emergency may be just ahead. "Californians in flood-prone areas, which we anticipate to be extensive over the next several days, stay connected with your local county and your local emergency responders so that you are ready in the event that there's flooding," she advised.
Some Bay Area schools are already adjusting schedules and planning to cancel classes ahead of the rain. Class is in session today for the South San Francisco Unified and San Mateo Union High School districts, but there will be no after school activities, such as sports or other extracurriculars.
"The heaviest rainfall and the strongest winds are going to be later this afternoon into the evening hours, and that's going to continue to cause flooding concerns into the overnight hours," Roger Goss, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told KCBS Radio.
Some schools will be closed on Thursday due to flood worries and San Mateo County has declared a local state of emergency. "This is something we have to be really extraordinarily cautious of," said Supervisor David Canepa. The county is prepared to open an evacuation center if needed.
San Francisco Unified is open today, but is monitoring the situation. A number of parks will be closed Wednesday and Thursday, including all East Bay regional parks and Muir Woods in the North Bay.
An evacuation warning has been issued for areas of Santa Cruz County by the sheriff's office due to heavy rains and run off. Residents can find their evacuation zone at community.zonehaven.com.
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