A storm expected to soak the Central Coast this week has prompted reminders about how to secure sandbags in the event of flooding.
Santa Barbara County and various cities have large piles of sand available for residents in need.
Some locations provide bags, while others require residents to bring their own bags to fill, with those bags available for purchase at local hardware stores.
Santa Barbara County Public Works Department officials say sand and unfilled bags can be found at:
» Santa Barbara Flood Control Shop, 4568 County Road (off of Calle Real), Santa Barbara
» Santa Maria Flood Control Shop, 912 W. Foster Road, Santa Maria
» Santa Barbara County Fire Station No. 31, 168 W. Highway 246, Buellton
Sandbags are not pre-filled, and people are limited to 25 bags each, according to the Public Works website.
The Santa Barbara sandbag station is located at 401 E. Yannoli St., with sandbags given out when a “Flash Flood Watch” is issued by the National Weather Service and confirmed by the City of Santa Barbara.
For more information about the city’s sandbag policy, click here.
Santa Maria residents can find sand only at the following five locations with people required to bring their own sandbags to fill:
» 2000 block of Western Avenue
» City Public Works Yard at 830 W. Cypress St. between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
» West Carmen Lane west of Depot Street
Sandbags can be purchased at Farm Supply, 1920 N. Broadway, and at other locations available by clicking here, according to the city.
Goleta has sand available at several locations 24 hours a day, with bags and sand included on a self-serve basis.
Sand can be located at:
» Fire Station No. 11, 6901 Frey Way
» Fire Station No. 14, 320 N. Los Carneros Road
» Community Center, 5679 Hollister Ave.
Other sand and/or sandbag locations can be found in:
» Lompoc at Fire Station No. 1, 115 South G St.
» Montecito at Lower Manning Park, 449 San Ysidro Road
» Santa Ynez at 1070 Faraday St., the Santa Ynez Community Services District office where bags and sand will be available.
» Solvang at 1745 Mission Drive (Veteran’s Memorial Building). Sand is available in a green box in the southwestern corner of the parking lot. A limited supply of sandbags also will be available. Otherwise, unfilled sandbags can be purchased at a number of hardware stores, with the list available here.
» Guadalupe at Fire Station No. 2, 918 Obispo St.
A video with tips on the best way to fill and place sandbags can be found by clicking here, with suggestions including avoiding overfilling bags and how best to stack them.
County officials said that once sandbags are no longer needed, the sand can be mixed with soil and used in landscaping or taken to a construction and demolition recycling plant.
Bags can be reused or, if not usable, should be thrown in the trash.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.