Have You Noticed this Billboard Along Highway 101?

News release submitted by Derek Jansen of WeAreRally.com:

Silicon Valley commuters are being greeted with a dramatic new billboard warning that U.S. Route 101 is at risk in the next major flood event: “In the next severe storm, this freeway will be UNDERWATER.”

The billboard arrives as the Bay Area prepares for El Niño’s first major storms of the season, creating wet, dangerous driving conditions on local roadways and flooding.

Our Bay on the Brink posted this massive 40-foot wide and 12-foot tall message just past the Whipple Ave entrance on the northbound side of U.S. 101. The billboard is located in an area prone to flooding and warns about flood risks caused by climate change, rising sea levels, and increasingly severe storms.

This year’s El Niño is expected to bring record-breaking rainy weather and storms to Northern California, and a recent study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute found that the cost of repairing damaged infrastructure and freeways after a severe storm could reach up to $10 billion and cause long-term economic damage to the entire Bay Area.

This latest effort is part of a larger public awareness campaign illustrating the urgent need to act now to protect our freeways, transportation infrastructure, communities, and businesses that are the lifeblood of the Bay Area economy. Communities across all nine Bay Area counties, from Alviso to Novato, and Hayward to San Mateo rely on freeways to get to work, and flooding from a major storm would threaten other critical infrastructure as well, including airports, power supply, and wastewater treatment plants.

This is of particular concern as major tech campuses—including Facebook, Google, Intel, Oracle, and more—rely on this critical infrastructure. While lowlands around the world face similar risks from the double effect of rising sea levels and more frequent storms, the Bay Area is in a unique position to act.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Bay Area Council, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and Save The Bay are among the groups that have come together under the Our Bay on the Brink banner to raise awareness about the risk and call on business and community leaders to act.

In addition to this billboard, recent efforts to raise awareness about the threat posed by climate change and increasingly severe storms include a public service announcement featuring California Senator Dianne Feinstein. “Hundreds of thousands of homes are at risk of flooding,” said Senator Feinstein in the PSA. “Our airports, freeways, infrastructure are going to be threatened. Headquarters of tech companies, the lifeblood of our regional economy, will be forced to relocate.”

WATCH SENATOR FEINSTEIN PSA HERE

The public awareness campaign also released an interactive documentary map called The Water at Bay featuring experts, business leaders, and environmentalists from across the Bay Area, and presents a case for immediate regional action on this pressing issue. Experts featured include:

• John Bourgeois, Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
• Allison Chan, Clean Bay Campaign Manager, Save the Bay
• Amy Hutzel, Program Manager, California State Coastal Conservancy
• Gary Kremen, Founder, Match.com
• Jeremy Lowe, Senior Coastal Geomorphologist, San Francisco Estuary Institute
• Sean Randolph, Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute

EXPLORE THE INTERACTIVE MAP HERE

Our Bay on the Brink is a public information project to educate people in the Bay Area region about challenges facing the San Francisco Bay, opportunities to improve the health of the Bay for future generations, and the vital importance of the Bay to our economy and quality of life. Key members include the Bay Area Council, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Save The Bay, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Conservation, business, and water leaders agree on the urgent need to address the health of the Bay. OurBayontheBrink.org

• Also see:
• Reading Tutors Needed In Silicon Valley, South Bay (Could Be Ideal Endeavor for Your New Year!)
• ‘We’re Not Guilty,’ Say 16 of 29 Burglary Suspects Busted In Santa Clara Co.’s ‘Operation Grinch’
• Google, Ford to Partner on Self-Driving Cars: Report