Marin first responders ready for potential flooding, outages from looming atmospheric river
SAN RAFAEL – As an atmospheric river storm is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds, first responders in the North Bay are preparing Tuessday, including a paramedic new on the job.
Ever since he can remember, Andrew Wayda has been dreaming of this very moment.
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"It's been something I've been working towards for years and years," he said.
Born and raised in Mill Valley, he's always wanted to become a firefighter.
"It's always been a goal of mine to work and live in the same community," Wayda said. "Now that my dream has finally come true it's an awesome opportunity and every day I enjoy going to work, serving the people I've grown up in."
A rookie firefighter paramedic, who is a first responder to all kinds of disasters, Wayda spent Tuesday getting ready for his first big storm, as yet another atmospheric river was expected to bring heavy rains and possible flooding in the North Bay as early as Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for the region as well as a wind advisory.
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The Marin County Fire Department, where Wayda works, had a sandbagging station all set up, though few residents took advantage of it.
Mari Ochoa, the public information officer for the Marin County Fire Department said people were slow to heed the warnings.
"No one believes a storm is coming with the sun coming out and the beautiful sunrise this morning, but it's coming," she said.
The station had also beefed up its staff ahead of the big storm, with an expected 6 to 8 inches of rain in central Marin County.
"We expect outages which is probably one of the primary concerns for the public," Ochoa said.
For Wayda, it meant making sure everything was up to snuff as he prepared for the looming atmospheric river and helped his fellow citizens go with the flow.
"We're ready for anything that comes our way," he said.
Cities and counties across the Bay Area are providing sandbag stations for residents and business owners looking to take precautions ahead of the storm's arrival.
