As of Friday morning, Sacramento appears to be through most of the storm, though a few showers may crop up throughout the day. In total, the storm brought 2.63 inches of rain to Sacramento.
The City distributed close to 10,000 sandbags through 6 p.m., Thursday night. The sites were then closed. Raley Boulevard between Santa Ana Avenue and Vinci Avenue, which was previously closed due to flooding, re-opened at 6:50 a.m. this morning.
The good news: There is currently no backlog of calls for help. Our 311 Call Center had staffed up for the storm by doubling our number of operators. Only 2.5 percent of our calls resulted in a “hang-up”, and 85 percent of our calls were answered in less than one minute. Our 311 Center received almost 698 storm related and 325 loose-in-the-street leaf-related calls since Wednesday.
Prior to the storm, many City residents followed the advice on the City’s Storm Preparedness page and ensured that their yard waste was either placed in green waste containers, or removed from the street to reduce the number of clogged storm drains. This was critical in keeping streets clear from localized flooding.
In addition to the responses to unclogging storm drains, crews proactively spotted and unplugged some 2,130 storm drains to keep water flowing – not flooding – in the streets. Crews remain busy addressing clogged storm drains as they come across them. At one point, we had 288 employees working the storm, both in our operations center, and out on the streets.
As well, our Utilities and Fire Department DOCs (Department Operations Center), which were active since noon on Wednesday to closely monitor situations within the City, has begun their process of demobilization.
Our Fire Department had a Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) of about 20 prepared and trained volunteers, staged in downtown, ready to help with emergencies in case any arose. Although multiple downed power lines and trees did occur, luckily no large emergency response was needed.
DOU crews will continue to work in the field until 8 p.m. tonight.
Additionally, Recycling & Solid Waste crews were out in full force. Between claw crews and container crews, the city has collected 2,400 tons of leaves and yard waste in the last two days. On average the City collects 800 tons a day.
A huge thanks to all of our crews dedicated to keeping the City clear. All told, we had Recycling & Solid Waste, Departments of Utilities, Public Works and Community Development staff who worked extra hard in response to the storm, in addition to vigilante patrols and preparedness practiced by our Police and Fire departments. From keeping leaves off the street, monitoring creek levels to doing levee patrol, and emergency responses, we are proud of the work our staff has completed over the past several days.
Remember to visit our Storm Preparedness page to learn more.