Santa Maria community prepares for wet weather
Loading up rain supplies in the back of his pick-up, Nipomo farmer Rollie Cavaletto is taking all of the necessary precautions to keep his farm safe this weekend.
“This weekend they expect four to six inches and we’re gonna have a lot of run-off because the soil is saturated now, so we have a couple areas we’re trying to protect, Cavaletto says.
Cavaletto is opting for straw wattle instead of sandbags because he believes it’s easier to use.
“Well I’m gonna get 100-150 feet of this and that’s way more than you’d want to do with sandbags. Mostly, we’re not trying to prevent the water from getting through we just want to divert it; it’ll be on a slope so once we get the water diverted, that will be okay,” he explains.
Customers like Cavaletto looking for wet weather necessities have been good for business at the Farm Supply Company store in Santa Maria.
“People are coming in for two or three pallets, especially the bigger guys – the construction companies, the farming outfits – so it’s a good amount of money for us,” says Sales Associate, Greg Flores.
But no matter how many supplies you buy, Cavaletto says Mother Nature will still keep you on your toes, telling us: “Mother Nature is always doing something different every time so you know, man prepares as well as he can but Mother Nature will always top whatever you do.”
On the city of Santa Maria’s website, they have a list of where you can buy sandbags and get sand, as well as which areas are most prone to flooding so people can plan ahead.
