A story on that from San Leonardo.
An excerpt.
San Leandro is 'aware' of flood danger
Few preparations have been made for potential dam break
By Michelle Beaver, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
A wall of water 71 feet high pushing cars off Interstate 580.
People drowning, houses sliding, belongings swept into the Bay.
Last November, The Daily Review investigated the risk of dam failure at Lake Chabot and learned that the average citizen and official had never considered that the dam could wipe away big portions of San Leandro. Even now that people have acknowledged the threat, they've done little to prepare for it.
The reservoir would have to be full, and an earthquake would have to be strong and close in order to compromise the dam. The U.S. Geological Survey predicts that a quake of a magnitude of at least 6.8 is 41 years overdue along the Hayward fault. But regardless, experts have determined that likelihood of dam failure is low. The consequences, however, would be monumental.
The biggest change since the series was published is that the Alameda County Fire Department has outfitted battalion chiefs' trucks with inundation maps, which show the time it would take water from a compromised dam to reach certain points and depths. The maps also are in San Leandro City Hall, the county's Emergency Operation Center in San Leandro and in the Office of Emergency Services. The maps could be very useful, said Sheldon Gilbert, an Alameda County Fire Department deputy chief.
"They help you know what to expect and in what time frame," Gilbert said. "I'm very confident that we can get that information to whoever needs it (after or during a flood)."
Some academics, water experts and a former American Red Cross administrator told The Daily Review last year that an evacuation plan should be developed, especially since the 13 billion-gallon Upper San Leandro Reservoir, if compromised, would empty into Lake Chabot and cause an even stronger flood than if only the smaller dam broke. The plea for an evacuation plan also was expressed in a master's thesis that then-student Chris Kramer wrote for California State University, East Bay, five years ago.
"Pieces are in place" that would allow for quick, safe evacuation in the event of any disaster, Deputy Chief Gilbert said. He did not, however, elaborate on what these pieces are. Planning a flood-specific evacuation would be futile, he said.
"We've chosen to plan from more of a global, all-encompassing perspective," he said. That means preparing for earthquakes, fires, floods, flu outbreaks, etc., in a catch-all plan.
Using this philosophy of disaster preparedness, the Fire Department has taken the following steps in the past nine months:
-The department held disaster-preparedness town hall meetings in San Leandro, Castro Valley, Hillcrest Knolls, Ashland, San Lorenzo and Dublin that attracted 800 people.
-About 600 people from those meetings signed up to take a 16-hour Fire Department-sponsored course that helps people understand how to be self-sufficient in a disaster. The county is offering 17 more of these courses between now and November. Flood risk will be included in the curriculum for San Leandro residents.
-The Alameda County Fire Department is hiring an emergency manager and community outreach person who will make preparations for Dublin and the unincorporated communities.
-The Fire Department will partner with the Davis Street Family Resource Center to apply for an AmeriCorps volunteer grant this fall. The AmeriCorps volunteers would offer emergency preparedness courses in the San Leandro area.
Several people interviewed by The Daily Review said they are concerned about flood potential, but that they still have not taken any safety steps or purchased flood insurance.
Gene Bryant, a member of the Estudillo Home Owners Association in San Leandro, has conflicting views.
"I think some people were surprised to learn that they were in a flood zone," Bryant said. "I think it's kind of ignorant not to pay attention, but you can't worry too much, either. It hasn't flooded here for centuries, so I'm not concerned."
