DWR recommendations for being flood ready
The California Department of Water Resources offered the following steps to ensure Californians are flood ready:
Be aware of your risk: Know whether your home is downslope of a burn area, pay attention to weather forecasts, and listen to local authorities.
Be prepared: Prepare an evacuation plan and always have an emergency evacuation kit ready so you are ready to evacuate early if needed. Also prepare an emergency plan for your pets as well. For tips on how to make an effective emergency plan, visit the American Red Cross at https://www.redcross.org/gethelp/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/make-a-plan.html.
Take action: Don’t walk or drive through flood waters and don’t wait to evacuate if flooding appears imminent. Consider purchasing flood insurance to cover the costs of damages should a flood occur.
Unpredictable
Brown and Smith agree that there is no way to know what will happen during a rainy season or how much rain we will get, but both stress the importance of residents preparing themselves in advance.
“The best advice is to prepare for weather that could cause flooding, and that will make you or your family ready for anything,”
said Brown.
Brown said residents should be making their emergency plans right now, while the weather is calm and free of rain clouds.
“What items do you need to take with you if you are told to evacuate? Where will your family meet if they are not all together when an evacuation order comes? Do you have a travel bag packed and ready to go with everything you need?” said Brown. “These are all questions we need to be asking now.”
Both counties offer Code Red, a service that allows residents to be notified by local emergency response team in the event of emergency situations or other critical community alerts. Residents can sign up for these alerts at www.bepreparedsutter.org or www.bepreparedyuba.org, depending on which county they live in.
Emergency plan checklists, updates on current emergency situation, road closures and weather warnings can also be found on each website as well.