OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) – With heavy rain expected to come through this weekend, ABC 10News spoke with the City of Oceanside about how they’re preparing for the wet weather.
“What we have right now for the next like week is they're forecasting, you know, higher sea levels,” Michael Grossman, Assistant City Manager of City of Oceanside, said. “We expect a lot of rain flow in this area. When, once that rain starts coming down, it can come up, the waters can come up real quick, although they should, you know, recede quickly.”
Grossman said there are areas that they always keep an eye on with any weather event.
“The Buena Vista lagoon, the creeks, any of the low-lying areas, anywhere where water already exists, we know that those are areas,” Grossman said. “Where we have another area where we might be vulnerable is around where our lift stations are; that is the equipment that pumps wastewater to our sewer plants. We don't want those backing up.”
It’s assistant city manager told us that having all of the preparation and staff getting ready for El Niño has helped them be that much more ready for the anticipated storm like the one this weekend.
Last week the City of Oceanside declared a state of emergency, allowing them to ramp up precautions relating to El Niño.
"I think in the short term, it helps us procure the equipment and the resources that we need quickly,” Grossman said.
ABC 10News has reported on the City’s efforts to get ready for the weather system and the work that’s already been done to protect people and property.
So, ABC 10News asked Grossman how all of this planning has helped the city get ready for this weekend’s storm.
“The heart of that answer is knowing the roles and responsibilities, knowing who is going to get out there and do that work, knowing what resources they need, and then troubleshooting from there, but it's really knowing the roles and responsibilities,” Grossman said.
