With an atmospheric river moving into California late Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, the California Office of Emergency Management said it has been working to prepare the state for weather impacts.
In a statement released Friday, the agency said it had personnel embedded in countries throughout the state to coordinate response to the storms. It added that it had also “prepositioned fire and rescue personnel and equipment in more than a dozen counties.”
Cal OES (by way of the California Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System) said it has deployed more than 550 local government firefighters and support staff, in addition to 19 swift water rescue teams throughout as many counties.
It also warned California residents to avoid poorly sourced information or rumors, advising people to stick to official state or local government sources as well as local news and reputable meteorologists.
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In a press conference Saturday, Cal OES Director Nancy Ward gave updates on how state agencies have been preparing for the storms.
Ward also said the state would launch an expanded initiative to call almost 2 million Californians in the state's most disaster-prone areas.
"This effort will contact Californians at risk and they'll receive live-saving, life-sustaining messages in English, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Mandarin," Ward said.
California
See more about the those preparations above, given during a Saturday press conference.
Several other agencies also gave updates about their own plans, including Caltrans, the state Department of Water Resources, Cal Fire and the California National Guard.
Caltrans Director Tony Tavares advised drivers to avoid nonessential travel until after the storm passed. If drivers must travel, they are advised to do so slowly and to never drive through standing or flowing water.
"As has been already said many times," Tavares said, "turn around, don't drown."
Tavares also said that Caltrans has prepositioned over 1,200 people across the state to address flooding, mud and rockslides and snow removal.
The latest on roadside conditions can be found on Caltrans' website.
For residents in Northern California, a spokesperson for PG&E said the utility company is also getting ready by using technology to predict where the storm will hit the hardest.
"We're bringing crews from the less-impacted areas into the very hard-hit areas so we can make repairs more efficiently," Megan McFarland said. "Another thing we're doing is prestaging equipment at some of our hard-hit yards, that is stuff like transformers, wires, poles — equipment that is often damaged during storms. So this way, equipment is ready to go and our crews can get out there quickly and make repairs when they have a chance to do so."
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said during a news conference Saturday that the city issued a proclamation of local emergency as the National Weather Service is predicting up to two inches of rain for the city on Sunday.
You can also use our interactive radar below to track the storm.
