There’s still time for you to prepare your property for the drenching El Niño rains expected to soak Santa Barbara County in the coming weeks.
Lompoc Fire Chief Kurt Latipow suggested residents use a checklist available on the City of Lompoc’s website to complete their preparations. Click here for the Be Storm Ready checklist.
“It’s not too late,” he said, adding that the forecasts for heavy rains mean residents should act soon.
The Lompoc Fire Department conducted property inspections upon request to help spot potential problems. Five appointments were scheduled for Monday.
“The one thing they should be doing is taking a look at the checklist, cleaning out their gutters, cleaning out their drains, making sure that any overhanging branches have been trimmed, and getting ready for the next wave of storms that are coming in,” Latipow told Noozhawk.
Residents who have had flooding or problem areas previously should expect similar concerns, and acquire sandbags before the rains become a problem, he added.
“If you did not, then the chances of needing them now are minimal,” he said.
Among the steps to take:
» Check your roof for leaks.
» Clean out your rain gutters and check downspouts.
» If you live near the hills check the back, side and rear yards for proper drainage.
» Make sure that the water’s downhill path isn’t blocked by debris.
» Secure your trash cans, lawn furniture and anything else that can fly around in high wind.
» Prepare an evacuation plan for your family.
» Keep a supply of filled sand bags and water-diverting supplies ready to use.
» Make sure you and your children know their schools’ and family’s emergency plans.
» Turn off automated sprinkler systems when rain is expected.
» Lower the water level in your swimming pool so it is less likely to overflow during heavy rain.
» Itemize and take pictures of possessions, in case of flooding. Keep those photos and important paperwork in an easily accessible waterproof box.
“I’m not concerned for this first wave,” Latipow said. “It’s after we get this first wave through and we see what’s behind it.”
The Fire Department has made sand and sandbags available for Lompoc residents, many of whom had picked them up in preparation for the rains.
“We put out close to a thousand already and we’re running out of stock,” he said, adding more were expected this week.
Residents were restricted to 10 bags per address, with people urged to bring shovels for filling the bags.
Santa Barbara County and other agencies also have made sand available for residents, who must bring their own sandbags, which can be purchased at most hardware stores.
In a class given earlier this year, California Conservation Corps members showed some Santa Maria Valley residents how best to handle sandbags, including filling them one-third to one-half full, folding the ends, stacking them like a pyramid and stomping on them to compress to fill nooks and crevices.
The City of Santa Maria has a sandbag tips video on its YouTube page. Sand is available for free at five locations in Santa Maria.
The City of Santa Barbara will open its sandbag station at the City Corporate Annex Yard, 401 E. Yanonali St., if a flash flood watch is issued, according to the city’s sandbag plan.
Other steps residents can take including checking flashlights and batteries ahead of a storm’s arrival. Candles typically are not recommended.
“If you’re using candles, use them with great caution because it’s not unusual for us to see, during outages, fires that have been caused by the use of candles,” Latipow said. “Batteries and flashlights are their friend.”
Roofing and gutter-cleaning contractors have been busy in recent months, with workers not even taking typical holiday vacations. One roofing company president even climbed back up the ladder to assist.
Jack Martin, president of Action Roofing, was admittedly sore after the first week of El Niño-fueled storms that saw him back on the rooftops.
“It was very active, shall we say,” he added.
Like other companies, Action Roofing has been flooded with business, receiving between 150 and 200 calls as the first rains fell.
His crews responded to each request, to at least make temporary repairs, he said.
“It has been absolutely crazy this year to the point where we could not keep up,” he said. “You do the best you can and you try to accommodate it.”
To help battle the deluge, Martin added himself to the crews.
“I do enjoy troubleshooting leaks because it’s something that is a challenge,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 35-plus years, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. It’s fun to figure out what is creating a problem and then fixing it.”
Since rains grounded many of his crews, employees worked last Saturday to make up for the lost workdays and tackle the list of customers.
Action is not alone. Martin said every roofing contractor and suppliers are overwhelmed with the business.
The key to preventing emergencies is maintenance, he said.
A roof that hasn’t been checked in the past three years needs to be inspected, he said, due to potential for leaves and debris accumulating and creating a problem.
“From a maintenance standpoint, if you clean your roof, clean your gutters, and have it looked over, you’re going to have less of a chance of having an actual problem,” Martin said.
With some areas of the county having received the first 4 inches of rain already, many property owners are now aware if they have problems.
“We literally have many, many tile roofs that are covered with plastic around town just to keep them dry until we can get in and pull them apart and have dry weather and patch them up permanently,” Martin said.
“As for what people can do now, get ready for lots more rain because, with El Niño, this is only the beginning,” he added. “If people have maintenance to do, clean off the roofs, they should get it done now before they start to have serious leaks in other areas.”
For Martin, the threat of El Niño brought a boost in business in late 2015. His 30-year-old company had its busiest year with a backlog of two months — “and that is absolute insanity,” he said.
“It’s never been like that,” he added. “It was interesting, fun, challenging, but yeah, we worked a lot.”
At Bassett Rain Gutters & Construction, a phone message implores customers, “Please be patient with us during this very busy El Niño rain season.”
Debris on the roof and in the gutters can prevent rainwater from flowing properly, creating problems and damage.
The busy times have continued for several months at Tunnell Roofing Co., with the contractor booked a couple of months ahead. Other companies reportedly are already booked into April.
“We’ve been extremely swamped this whole year,” Tunnell Roofing bookkeeper Kimberly Evans said in late December.
Once a storm has passed, residents’ work isn’t done, authorities and contractors say. Structures, trees and property should be assessed for any damage or debris that could cause concerns during future storms.
“We’re going to have a fun winter, that’s for sure,” Martin added.
— 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.