TENS Emergency Notice Issued

Today, the County Office of Emergency Services issued a warning using the Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) for residents living in the flood plain. I received the notice on our town hall voice mail at 2:40 this afternoon. The message stated that the National Weather Service is forecasting high winds and heavy rains with gusts of up to 50 mph, and the potential for local urban flooding for the North Bay to develop late Sunday and continuing into Monday. There is currently no flooding but local urban flooding could take place as early as Monday morning. Residents in the flood plain are advised to take precautions to protect themselves and their property. The notice also gave out the National Weather Service phone number, (831) 656-1725, and asked residents to check that their neighbors also received the message, and to stay tuned to local radio and TV stations for weather alerts.

Five inches of rain are predicted for this storm, but hopefully it will be during a longer period of time than the last big storm. The Mayor and Council, Town emergency personnel, the volunteers, the Chamber of Commerce, and the creek monitoring group have all been notified this afternoon and evening, to keep everyone up to date and find out who is available to help if indeed the storm develops into localized flooding.

I also heard that PG&E emergency crews are on standby. Now would be a good time to have all your flashlights and candles/lighter gathered in a handy location.