Central Valley public agencies prepare for tropical storm

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was 84 years ago when a tropical storm last hit California, officials say it never happened before then and it hasn't happened since.

This weekend, that's expected to change and organizations are preparing for what's to come.

Hurricane Hilary is expected to be the wettest tropical storm in California history, causing the state to work with federal and local governments to prepare.

In Kings County, public works is closing compromised roadways to protect the community during the rain.

Officials in Fresno County are also preparing.

"We've been having numerous phone calls and meetings everyday, with the National Weather Service and currently for Fresno it looks like we're just going to be about a half an inch," said Emergency Manager with Fresno Co. Office of Emergency Services, Terri Mejorado.

While it may not rain too significantly on the valley floor, our ABC30 chief Meteorologist Kevin Musso says this isn't normal in the summer.

"We're going to be getting rain in a time where we typically don't see rain, it starts raining in November, not in August," said Musso. "There's certain times of the year here in the Valley, where rain is not very welcomed and that would be during the harvest season and we're heading into that right now."

The eastside and south end of the valley, foothills, mountains and the desert are the areas that could see significant rain.

Mejorado says the impact locally can be on our roadways.

"This is going to be the first rain that we've had on the streets for a while, so any of the mud or the oil that's currently on the road is going to bubble up," said Mejorado.

She says its important to check in with Caltrans before traveling out town.

"If you live around here you know, too much snow, too much rain will get the grapevine closed. So if you have to travel, I would pre plan, take extra time, you're going to have to go slow," said Mejorado.

And if you plan on staying in town, Musso says the affects will vary.

"As far as us individually, it may not inconvenience us. We may spend the weekend at home or in the backyard or taking a drive to the store, and we notice that Saturday it was kind of windy and Sunday, 'wow we did get a little bit of rain,' but that doesn't mean that not very far away from us, it was something that was really worth noting," said Musso.

Southern California Edison is also preparing for the storm due to the increase risk for power outages.

They say they have extra crews on standby ready to respond to any outages over the weekend.

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