Preparations for the upcoming storm headed for Santa Cruz

APTOS, Calif. (KION) -- As the storms move in, Santa Cruz County locals are preparing as concerns over flooding, power outages and road closures loom.

Santa Cruz County's Departmental Communication Officer Tiffany Martinez elaborated on what the county is doing to combat the rain and wind on the way.

"Our roads crew actually go out on our 600 mile network, road network, and what they do is they go out and one of our their priorities is to clear culverts, to clear drainages, to clear any debris build up that could potentially lead to flooding," Tiffany Martinez said.

Extra road crews are being sent out to survey the area. Although there will be extra personnel patrolling the county, Martinez said it’s important to report any damage or flooding.

"If residents do see downed trees, or, you know, there's sometimes trees down with power lines, if they see flooding on the roadway, rock slides, landslides that have happened because of the rain and the potential for winds, we do encourage residents to call our 24/7 emergency line," Martinez said.

The county also suggests using their road advisory resources on the Department of Community Development and Infrastructure website before heading out on the roads in the rain

"If you are planning to go out and maybe you're curious to see what roads are impacted by the storm, such as downed trees or maybe flooding, you have the resource to look online and see what roads in our road network have been impacted and where it's located as well.

Santa Cruz County offers many resources to help prepare for the storms, including multiple newly filled sandbag stations like this one right behind me.

"Our crew actually went out to each sandbag location and restock them. And we typically do this if the stock is running low," Martinez said.