Storm Surges in the Bay Area

By: Samuel Lam

Over the past several years, California has garnered a reputation for being devoid of water as it has been ridden with droughts. However, throughout the past month, California has battled a series of heavy rain and thunder, all of which has caused damage across the Bay. From fallen trees and powerlines to the fooding of houses and reservoirs and rivers as well as the washing away of piers in San Francisco, this wave of storms is causing mass havoc. This has caused many to take action across our state, but the question is how have they taken action?

On a statewide scale, there have been many initiatives to help combat this fooding. One instance is dealing with our reservoirs and man-made lakes. Several reservoirs have opened their dams and allowed water to run off in preparation for these storms, hoping to curb the fooding and hold more water within their bodies. Another initiative or rather policy that many offcials are pushing for is to do with levees. Levees are man-made embankments used to prevent a river from overfowing. The thought behind moving them farther back is to accommodate for the increase in water levels as well as allow more water to seep back into the underground aquifers. Due to the rapid depletion of aquifer levels due to recent droughts, this is much needed.

Now the question is, what can and have we, on the Viking ship, done to stay afoat during this time?

With foods raging, it is hard to stay safe and dry, even inside your home. One widespread method to attempt to stay dry is to utilize sandbags. These are readily available at your local hardware store such as Home Depot. There have also been instances where local Fire Stations offer places where you can fll your own sandbags for free. Placing these inside your house where water may potentially seep through, such as at the garage entrances and doorways is ideal. This prevents the fooding that many people have experienced to an extent. However, not completely, One extreme method is to buy a water pump, which as Mr. Wang has expressed, can be useful to pump out the unwanted water within your home.

Another issue when staying at home is the power. With winds and storms raging just on the other side of the wall, electricity is the one thing keeping you warm and entertained as you are stuck at home. However, powerlines and other electrical “funnels” can be fnicky in this type of weather and PG&E may run rolling power outages in order to preserve the electrical grid and system. So during this type of weather, power outages may be a common occurrence and may last anywhere from hours to days. The best thing you can do is prepare. Make sure to have some reserves of water as well as batteries, candles, fashlights, and your Uber Eats app readily available. Many residents across the Bay have these kits readily available but it is prudent to make one of your own.

Yet another thing to do is to stay informed. In every walk of life, being well-informed is crucial. Paying attention to the weather app as well as the news can allow you to properly predict and prepare for severe weather and possibly go and buy any of the above-listed items that could help you stay dry