Officials from the Sheriff, Fire, Public Works, Emergency Operations and Communications departments updated the Board of Supervisors Tuesday regarding preparations in recent months in advance of the predicted rainstorms.
Forecasters have predicted the peak of this year’s El Niño conditions will arrive in late fall or early winter and may be one of the bigger events to hit the region in modern times. Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, has dubbed it the Godzilla El Niño.
County spokesman David Sommers said all of the storm-related information from each department released in advance of and during the storms will be on the website — www.lacounty.gov/elnino — which can be translated into 83 languages. Sommers said the website, which launched Tuesday, can be updated via mobile phone in the event of blackouts.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said the county needs to inform residents that the website exists: “99.9 percent of people living in the county don’t know what the county does and would not turn to a county website.”
The county will be using the hashtag “#LArain” to communicate with residents on social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook.
The supervisors directed the team of emergency responders to ensure that information is shared on the radio and not only via the Internet so that people who don’t have access to the internet will be prepared and informed.
The board also encouraged the emergency response officials to communicate with the region’s 88 cities to coordinate efforts. “I still have the nightmares of the Edison windstorm and the disjointed response,” Supervisor Don Knabe said, referring to the 2011 incident in which more than 400,000 lost power across Southern California and three people were electrocuted.
Deputy Fire Chief David Richardson said the county has doubled the number of sandbags that have been deployed at each of the county’s fire stations, from 500 to 1,000 in preparation for potential mudslides and flooding.
Sheriff’s Department officials said teams will be charged with containing and securing any flooded areas, redirecting traffic and conducting any evacuations. Search and rescue teams will also be deployed to canyon and mountain areas.
The county will open emergency homeless shelters this week, six weeks early, in preparation for the predicted winter storms. The shelters will stay open until March 15.
Phil Ansell, who is leading the county’s homeless prevention initiative, said there will be a request before the supervisors next week to add 261 county-funded beds in shelters to the county’s 600 shelter beds.
Lt. Jeff Deedrick , who leads the Sheriff’s Department Homeless Outreach Team, said the department’s main goal is to educate homeless persons living near riverbeds of the dangers of storms. But the department is also using geocoding technology to map out where homeless encampments are so that homeless residents will be accounted for during evacuations.
“Our goal is to significantly reduce the amount of water rescues or evacuations that will be needed if and when the El Niño event occurs,” Deedrick said.
Department of Public Works Director Gail Farber said additional public works crews will be stationed throughout the county in advance of and during storms.
She said storm season preparation of the county’s flood control system has been completed, which included:
- Inspecting of 14 “fully functional” dams and 417 miles of concrete channels
- Cleaning out 82,000 catch basins
- Inspecting 3,300 miles of underground storm drains
- Completing routine maintenance at 46 pump stations
- Cleaning out 172 debris basins
“Reporting smaller problems as soon as they occur can help prevent them from becoming larger incidents,” she said.
Farber added residents can sign up for , download the “Los Angeles County The Works” app available for Android and iPhone mobile smartphones or call (800) 675-HELP (4357).
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