Water Water Everywhere…
I know I talk a lot here about how much I love rain, how tired I am of drought, how much I worry when we have a long, dry winter. If you’ve been watching the news, though, you will see that California is getting too much of a good thing right now. (I guess it’s almost impossible to make a Californian happy about the amount of rain we get…I read an article today that talked about how all of this rain will mean a good year for us, maybe, if it doesn’t all stop soon, but it won’t reverse a lot of the damage that has already been done. We would need quite a few very wet winters for that.)
Ideal would be for us to get these storms, yes, but with at least a few days, perhaps a week or even a bit more, in between, to allow the soil to dry out a bit. Right now the soil is saturated, which, when combined with heavy winds, can mean downed trees. I’ll admit that I worry a bit about the damn eucalyptus tree behind our townhouse. It’s dropped branches down before, damaging our fence, but thankfully nothing worse. I wish we had some say in the matter, we would have it removed. But it belongs to the apartment complex behind us. Thankfully our Homeowners Association convinced the management company of the apartments to trim it back a few years ago, removing the huge branch that was over Maya’s bedroom.
Our suburb used to be prone to flooding, but has put a series of channels in place to rush the water away from our area and out to the Bay. This means that the water is going very fast in some spots, and can be deadly if entered. There have been at least two such tragedies in our time here. In 2010, we had a wet spring. A man was driving his elderly parents, taking them to dinner. While crossing over a small bridge, he apparently suffered a heart attack, and the car when through two fences and into the water. The father and son both died, but the mother survived, though she was swept several miles downstream before a dramatic helicopter rescue. We a few blocks away from the creek, so I remember being out walking my dog, Genevieve, and seeing and hearing helicopters searching for her husband’s body. The following year, two boys that went to High School with my daughter (She was a Freshman, they were Juniors, so she didn’t really know either of them) decided to go rafting in the creek, and both drowned. Again, I remember hearing the helicopters searching for their bodies.
Appropriately enough, this warning from the Walnut Creek Police Department popped up in my Facebook memories the other day. I hope that we do not have any deaths this year (or ever again, really).
With the forecast for heavy rains over the next few days our normally calm creeks and channels can become full of swift moving water and debris without warning. Please stay out of the creeks and channels and Stay Alive!
We must take advantage of this opportunity to speak to our children and friends about the dangers of fast moving storm water and the almost certain fate that awaits anyone who goes into rain swollen creeks and channels.
The flood control channels are part of our community’s infrastructure and, like freeways or railroad tracks, should never be used for recreation. The flood control channels are designed to drain storm water from our communities and take it swiftly “out to sea”, preventing flooding. Water from the surrounding watershed area first gathers in small streams and creeks and then flows into the large channels for a swift trip to the Delta, Carquinez Strait and San Pablo Bay. This storm water can pass from small open creeks to large underground tunnels; from narrow rocky stream beds to wide concrete channels; all the while gathering debris, speed, volume and power. At key points along the way, large structures have been built into the system to slow down the water and control the power. This allows the water to flow back into wide earthen channels without destroying their natural habitat or causing erosion. These structures are an efficient tool in managing our floodwaters but can be deadly for humans.
If you see someone in any of our canals please call 911 immediately! Keep visual on the subject and keep our Dispatchers updated. Never jump in and try to rescue yourself. The water can be very deceiving and incapacitate you in a matter of seconds. Leave the rescuing to your fire and police experts equipped with the proper equipment. Stay Out and Stay Alive!
16 Comments
nance
I’ve been wondering how all this rain was affecting your community. That there is permanent infrastructure in place is so smart and helpful, but of course there are always concerns with foolish people who think they are invincible.
Here in our town we have a lovely waterfall as well as a small ford at the river. Both can become hazardous during heavy rains as longtime residents well know. Yet there are always idiots (locals!) who become trapped and need rescue trying to cross both, and there have been deaths. Some people cannot be saved from themselves, sadly.
I hope your forecast moderates soon. I’d never heard of an Atmospheric River before this!
J
Nance, I’m not sure we would ever get enough water without atmospheric rivers, but to get them so close together has really overwhelmed my poor state.
San
Ugh, this last week has been so crazy. We had so many downed trees in the neighborhood, one a few houses down on our street. I heard it and thought it was thunder… but Jon was like “nope, that was a tree”. And sure enough it was!
I am really all for a wet season – we need the rain and snow pack, but this truly is too much of a good thing all at once. We had thunderstorms here last night (with lightening and thunder) and more rain to come…. stay safe, Julie!
J
Yes, it’s been crazy, and I know in the valley where you are even worse. Though the coast is pretty bad too. I sure love rain, but not this much. Sigh.
Nicole MacPherson
Yikes, that is awful. Stay safe!
J
Thanks Nicole, so far we are safe. I don’t really worry about flooding so much as trees. Our next door neighbor’s tree came down last night onto the fence, but it came down in slow motion over a period of a day or two. They came and cut it up today. I don’t know why they didn’t do it yesterday when they came to inspect. Thankfully no one was hurt.
Suzanne
This sounds really worrisome. I hope the weather stabilizes for you soon and that you stay safe.
J
Thanks Suzanne! I just ran out to the grocery store…rain, hail, thunder, lightening, and lots and lots of traffic. And bits of sunshine thrown in for good measure. I would love this weather, actually, if it weren’t for the concern of flooding and trees coming down.
Margaret
I hate the atmospheric rivers; we’ve been prone to them too and they create downed trees and mudslides. I hope that they can be spaced out a bit mores so that your state can get relief from the water yet get enough to help the drought. Is that too much to ask for during these times of climate change? 🙁
J
Hey Margaret, looks like you might be getting the next one? Stay dry! And yeah, all I want is the perfect amount of water, please, and when I want it. Fill the aquifers, fill the reservoirs, but no killing people, destroying property, and felling trees!
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
Gosh it is feast or famine for you Californians. Like it can’t just rain – it has to torrentially downpour and cause more damage. Sheesh. We have had pretty bad droughts the last 2 years but nothing like what you guys have experience. We’ve gotten a ton of snow this winter, but it’s not as beneficial as more consistent rain because the ground can’t absorb snow. So it helps, but not enough! Hopefully we have a more normal summer. We live in such a world of extremes when it comes to weather.
J
Yes, Lisa, that’s the problem here too. The ground cannot absorb more water, so we’ve got a mess. What we really always want is a lot of snow pack to fill our reservoirs, and now we have that too…but if it warms up too quickly in spring, it may melt too fast and bring more flooding. Like you said, feast or famine.
Ally Bean
I’ve been watching the rain on the news reports and it’s scary to see. I know that around here there’s always some fool who thinks he’ll be able to get across the flooded road, safely. And trees just fall down. Stay safe, okay?
J
Thanks Ally! I haven’t felt unsafe, though certainly a tree could fall on my car or house. As my (somewhat superstitious) cousin would say: ‘cancel cancel’.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I think I said it somewhere before: while it is good to get rain – specially in California – we as humans have already made so much damage that it is now another hazard. Hope you stay safe.
J
Thanks Tobia! Yes, we are safe. And happy about the week of dry weather ahead of us, with a hope for some rain next weekend. That sounds kind of perfect to me.