The city had several street crews out clearing up storm drains here they were using a large suction pipe to clear out a catch basin that was clogged. The city made about a dozen of those calls today and crews will be on-call throughout the night.
Just like in Fresno, people have been coming to the fire stations in the South Valley filling up bags of sand to prepare themselves for any flooding that may happen.
Just about an hour ago the city told me more than one-thousand people have stopped picked up sandbags today.
All three fire stations in Visalia are offering residents to come by and fill up anywhere from 5 to 10 bags starting today until Monday.
Danny Wristen Visalia Fire Dept.: "Obviously driving if you don't need to drive this weekend especially when you get the high winds and the heavy rains don't avoid those trips wait until the rain stops a little bit and the wind dies down"
Ron Abbott: "There's a little section that always gets a real healthy drink if there's a slightest amount of rain so I think we solved it today"
The city is asking residents to not rake any leaves into the street, if there is a lot of rain that could cause the streets to flood.
Firefighters are also asking families to have plenty of drinking water, a flash light and a first aid kit on hand in case of any emergencies or if the power goes out.
Tomorrow morning at 9-am the fire department will be opening up its emergency operations center where they'll have additional staff monitoring how the storm is affecting the area. It will also serve as shelter for some people if necessary during the storm.
