Preparations are underway across Goleta ahead of a possibly wetter-than-usual rainy season as the region prepares for the impacts of El Niño.
The Goleta City Council heard from city staff Tuesday night about El Niño, a phenomenon that shifts weather patterns, and how various city departments are bracing for a potential rainy season.
“It is not an individual storm; we don’t know what the winter will hold,” said Jason Levy, emergency services coordinator. “El Niño is here; we are already seeing a warmer (and) drier fall.”
In a recent El Niño webinar, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Santa Barbara County residents can expect warmer temperatures and possible “above normal” rain for the coming months.
Goleta employees are preparing facilities for the possible increased rain, inspecting known flood areas and recommending residents make plans now.
The Goleta Community Center, the Stow Grove Park Ranger House, Stow House and the Train Depot are also being “armored” against rain impacts, according to Matthew Fore, general services director.
Staff are most concerned about the South Coast Railroad Museum, a historic structure near Lake Los Carneros, he added.
“Last year, with fairly moderate rainfall, the historic Train Depot experienced fairly substantial and significant damage,” Fore said.
The building’s design directs water underneath the building, and the rain gutters that take water off the roof and keep it away from the building are decorative, according to Fore.
Rain got underneath the building last year and damaged the floors, he added.
To armor the historic structure, city staff purchased 1,000 sandbags.
“We are going to do everything we can to keep water from slipping underneath,” Fore said.
For the upcoming winter season, city staff will close the building, fence it off and place sandbags.
The Goleta Community Center is also prompting some concerns for city staff, who hope the skylight will make it through one more rainy season after recently rejecting construction bids.
They plan to go out to bid again during the rainy season, according to Fore.
For now, the skylight will be protected under thick plastic weighed down to prevent water damage.
City staff are also monitoring known flood areas, one being the area where the new Hollister Avenue roundabouts are in Old Town Goleta.
However, the roundabouts will discharge the rainwater into San Jose Creek, according to Autumn Glaeser, assistant public works director.
Additionally, improvements made by city crews and Caltrans will allow for 100-year containment for runoff in the channel, she said.
“That’s really important because that was one of the areas that used to really flood,” Councilman James Kyriaco said.
Goleta residents will begin to see drainage work to the roundabouts starting Thursday near the Highway 217 off-ramp and Dearborn Place. The work will partially close the roundabout for about a week, according to city officials.
Council members also asked about available emergency shelter beds for local homeless residents during storms.
Neighborhood Services Director JoAnne Plummer said there are reserved emergency shelter beds that open up during heavy storm activity as well as warming centers, which typically set up in churches and other community spaces.
“It’s something that we would have our finger on the pulse of and make sure that we would seek to find out who is opening those, where are those,” she said.
Currently, no warming centers exist within Goleta’s city limits.
Mayor Paula Perotte pleaded for a warming center, calling it “necessary.”
“We need a place, and I hope we find one before the storm hits,” she said.
Levy, the city’s emergency services coordinator, is also participating in biweekly calls with the National Weather Service, which provides weather updates.
He urged community members to “prepare, don’t panic,” and suggested residents begin preparations now, including stocking up on sandbags.
Sandbags are now available at Santa Barbara County Fire Station 11, at 6901 Frey Way, and Fire Station 14, at 320 N. Los Carneros Road.
