Fresno County OES and residents prepare for second atmospheric river

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County Office of Emergency Services (OES) is stressing the importance of personal preparedness before the next storm arrives.

The first atmospheric river had already swept through Lee Murrietta's home in Northwest Fresno.

"My yard completely flooded, my driveway flooded," Murrietta said.

Now, Murrietta is taking advantage of the county's sandbags for some help ahead of the next storm.

"Hopefully preventing resting water past the foundation up, you know, past my house," Murrietta said. "If it goes beyond the foundation, I'm in trouble."

Another Northwest Fresno homeowner, Earl Remily, says this is the first time he's needed to grab some sandbags.

"It flooded last year. So, we've been in that home for 30 years. It's never done that, so I guess we're getting some unusual amounts of rain. Well, I know we are. I just don't want it to happen," Remily explained.

While the sandbags are a great resource, Fresno County OES wants people to know there are other ways to prepare for the storm.

"Sometimes, with large storms, we may lose power. So, until the power comes on, you want to make sure that you have some type of food supplies and water," Fresno OES Emergency Manager Terri Mejorado said. "If you're using flashlights and lanterns, that the batteries are fresh or you have additional batteries."

Fresno County OES has been in daily meetings with the National Weather Service to make sure the department has the right amount of resources for the upcoming storm.

"We do have somebody on call all weekend who will be participating in these calls and monitoring the weather, so if something were to change, we could activate our emergency operations center," Mejorado said.

While the agency is not anticipating an emergency, it is prepared and wants residents to be as well.

Some other tips from Fresno County OES: make sure your gutters are cleaned out, check on your trees to see if they're snug or if roots are exposed, fix them ahead of the storm, and drive safely.

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