SONOMA COUNTY, CA — An El Niño season that could bring unusually heavy winter rains prompted the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to declare an emergency this week as crews cleared waterways and staged storm equipment.
Forecasters say El Niño has a 75 percent chance of reaching historic levels this winter.
"The best time to prepare for a flood is before a storm," Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo, chair of the board of supervisors, said in a news release.
The county's proclamation on Tuesday follows Gov. Gavin Newsom's statewide emergency declaration two weeks earlier.
Newsom said that conditions of extreme peril exist and that anticipated impacts would likely require combined resources from multiple jurisdictions and mutual aid regions.
Supervisors also reviewed countywide storm preparations.
Crews are clearing culverts and flood-control channels, checking roads and other locations with histories of flooding or slides, and staging sandbags, barricades, and other equipment.
Emergency managers are preparing for increased staffing and emergency operations. Crews are readying rainfall, stream, and reservoir monitoring systems for winter.
The proclamation directs county departments, Sonoma Water, and sanitation districts to prepare a prioritized countywide list of threatened or vulnerable infrastructure.
It also directs county departments to coordinate a response with cities, special districts, tribal partners, and state emergency managers.
"We know that this could be a particularly strong El Niño season, so we need to make sure we are prepared before the rains even start," Hermosillo said.
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