SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KNTV/NBCNC) – As parts of northern California prepare for a major spring storm, residents in areas damaged by last year’s wildfires are being extra cautious.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch through Saturday morning for the North Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains.
Several inches of rain are expected to hit burn-scarred areas in Sonoma County where trees are gone and debris has clogged storm drains.
Officials in Santa Rosa are more concerned about how fast the rain comes rather than how much they get.
Because of last October’s wildfires the ground there won’t be able to absorb water at the same rate as before.
Paul Lowenthal serves as Assistant Fire Marshall for the Santa Rosa Fire Department. He said, “The original threat was the fire debris impacting our storm drain systems. So, as that process winds down, we have a lot of open lots… a lot of silt, sediment, mud in the area. There’s 1400 storm drains within the burn area of Coffey Park and Fountain Grove, so… it’s essential that we maintain those.
“We know there’s the potential for something to happen here. And based on that information we have plans in place. We’ve done notifications to our community over the last several months, letting them know what the risks are associated within this community. But with the amount of rain that we’re anticipating tonight we definitely don’t want to let our guard down.
“We were in communication with the National Weather Service this morning again, and are anticipating the strongest portion of the storm to hit between 11 pm and 5 am tomorrow morning. That being said the fire department and the city continue to prepare. We have additional staffing on hand today, not only in anticipation of issues that may arise within the burn area but also around the city as a whole.”
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.