Ventura County Prepares for El Nino
Experts are predicting this winter could be one of the biggest El Nino years in decades. This is making emergency preparation efforts more vital than ever before.
Every year, Ventura County puts on a Storm Day exercise, but this year the exercises were extra-special because they might be some of the last hands-on drills that are performed before the upcoming El Nino season.
El Nino is on its way to Southern California. And the National Weather Service predicts it will be bringing lots of rain this winter, which in return is expected to create potentially dangerous situations.
“Slides, big ones, mud flows and flooding are the big three,” said Ventura County Public Works Agency Director Jeff Pratt.
To prepare for the upcoming storms, several Ventura County agencies are participating in storm drills.
“We can plan all we want and everyone plans, but the best preparation is to do a drill, so you can simulate the intensity of what we are anticipating with these El Nino storms,” said Ventura County CEO Mike Powers
In Wednesday’s drill, a waterway in Somis is blocked by mud, and several organizations have to work together as quickly as possible to clear it.
“This site right here at Somis is a perfect example because this could back up and the water flowing really fast can impact the local homeowners here,” said Powers.
This area isn’t the only hot spot the Office of Emergency Services will be keeping an eye on this rainy season. Other areas that have a high chance of being impacted include; La Conchita, Ventura Avenue and several burn areas like Camarillo Springs.
“We have a number of burn areas where there will be a lot of debris flows, and that can be dangerous because you have boulders the size of Volkswagens rolling across roads and we will be out plowing those,” said Pratt.
Besides anticipating what to do when the storms come, Ventura County is also doing what it can now to prepare.
“We got 200 miles of channel and 56 dams, and all of them are clean and ready to function and rock and roll in this storm. Perfectly clean, so we are starting with a real clean slate and hopefully that will get us through the year,” said Pratt.
No matter where you live in Ventura County, you can get real-time emergency updates through the Office of Emergency Services at VCEmergency.com
