Another winter is approaching without the flood protection we need, but some of our public leaders will keep working to get it done, we wish them well and will continue to do what we can on this end.
An excerpt.
Early warning for winter safety
By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, October 3, 2006
As October gets off to a cool and possibly damp start, the nip of fall should remind Sierra drivers and residents in low-lying areas to start preparing for winter, weather and flood officials said Monday.
For hundreds of thousands of Sacramento-area residents whose homes are kept dry by levees, that means having an emergency plan to evacuate quickly and safely.
And for drivers heading into the mountains, it means allowing extra time to cross snowy passes.
"The first few storms of the season, we definitely worry about people who aren't that prepared for it," said Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Snow levels could reach about 6,000 feet on Wednesday, she said, and while flakes won't necessarily stick or accumulate, that still means drivers should slow down and take it easy on slick roads. She didn't expect chains would be needed.
In the Valley, up to a quarter-inch of rain could fall between tonight and Thursday morning, Hoxie said.
That's well below anything that would stress levees along the Sacramento River and other major waterways, said Eric Butler, acting flood operations branch chief at the state Department of Water Resources.
"There's almost no chance of a major flood in October or November," Butler said, adding that the time to start worrying is "when you start seeing consecutive days of multiple inches of rain a day." That pattern is much likelier to occur from December through March.
