Seaside prepares for El Nio

It’s an all hands on deck operation when talking about El Nio hitting Seaside.

“No matter what your job responsibility is, you are required to be on call for whatever is needed. I’ve personally gone and dug in storm drains in the middle of rain when typically I’m doing public information,” said Seaside City Clerk Lesley Milton.

This is all part of the emergency plan.

“Employees have been given training, we’ve bought extra rain gear for the fire department members as well as have extra supplies on hand in case we need volunteers to come in,” said Seaside Battalion Chief David Nava.

The City has seven possible shelters in case a neighborhood needs to be evacuated.

“If there’s an evacuation we can house people. We know what kind of services they need,” said Milton.

According to emergency planners Laguna Grande Regional Park is one of the area’s most susceptible to flooding.

“Through our Hazard Mitigation Plan we have identified the low areas of Canyon Del Rey and Del Monte,” said Nava.

The city has invested in sandbags…a lot of them.

“We generally do give out a few hundred sand bags every year. This year because of the el nino we stockpiled thousands of sand bags,” said Nava.

In addition to regularly flushing storm drains the City is making sure the infrastructure can weather any storm.

Milton “We’re working to make sure that street lights and other traffic control related devices have adequate power,” said Milton.