With More Rain On The Way, County Officials Say Months Of Planning Goes Into Preventing Flooding
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — Some people have their own way of preparing for the next round storms.
"I'm probably just going to stay in. I probably wasn't going to go out," Ronald Albero said.
But, Sacramento County is making its own preparations for the upcoming rain.
"Everything we're doing is preventive. So we're going around cleaning out all of the DIs, raking all of the leave off of them if we have to, we use a vacuum," Mark West, a member of the county's Storm Water Utility division, said.
This preventative work is planned months in advance.
"Especially during the summertime, where we have our crews going out into areas where there's no water, starting to clean up the debris that people toss over the fences. And then that's in preparation for times like this," Matt Robinson, a spokesperson with Sacramento County, said.
Crews will also be using vacuum trucks to clear pipes for the next round of showers.
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"But it's trying to anticipate how many pipes would be clogged. Because some of the pipes you can't access from the box like we did here. You have to access them from the manhole," West said.
The county told CBS13 that they position these trucks in flood-prone areas and according to weather reports.
"So that we have a faster response. The crews look at it. If we need to bring out the bigger vehicles, then we can bring them in because they're staged," Robinson said.
That can require stopping traffic in order to get rid of debris. Another issue that can impact flooding with these storms in The City of Tree are the trees.
"Areas like this we have a heavy steep slope and we have a tree in that area," Robinson said. "At some point that tree could fall over, clogging the drainage area and causing flooding."
The showers can bring headaches for everyone, not just the county.
"I do a lot of walking. My doctor told me I have a condition called fat so I need to walk more," Joe Geralbdo said. "And the rain is indeed a bit of challenge some days."
"I don't know, it's somewhat scary driving on the roads in the morning I guess," Albero said.
The county said it's also reminding people to simply pick up any trash or leaves in their neighborhood to prevent possible drain clogging.
