California reaching out to 1 million people for flood recovery, preparation efforts

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Governor Gavin Newsom's visit to the Central Valley on Tuesday was the start of a movement for local flooding concerns and preparations.

As we have seen in the last several months, floods across California have devastated dozens of Central Valley communities and now California's Office of Emergency Services or Cal OES is jumping in to help.

In the next four weeks, Cal OES' "Listos California" program will develop call centers to help spread the word about resources and funds available to flood victims.

About one million people across six local counties will be reached.

Counties include Fresno, Kern, Tulare, Kings, Merced, Madera, and Mariposa.

Brian Ferguson runs the Listos program. He has been working behind the scenes to make this outreach effort happen.

Brian mentions, "We are very proud of this program because it's something that gets really in at the grassroots and builds a movement to help keep communities safe.

There might not be enough firefighters, enough cops to come door to door in disasters so we want to build that resiliency."

Listos has partnered with 93 organizations across the state- including dozens in the Central Valley.

Information will be available in English, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.

It's an effort to connect with as many flood victims as possible.

"We wanna meet them where they are at by bringing cultural and linguistic language so people get the information they need in a language that they would be most comfortable with," says Brian.

Direct outreach will focus on recovery efforts but also preparedness for future flooding.

With increasing temperatures- snowmelt is now a concern for troubled spots.

"We are not out of the woods for any stretch of the imagination for this natural disaster. While we are very happy to talk about recovery programs it's important that your viewers understand as we move forward we are still in very dangerous situations in many parts of the central valley," explains Brian.

Cal OES mentions they are using technology and flood records to find what spots are vulnerable.

They will focus on areas that have seen flooding in the past, and keep an eye on hospitals, nursing homes, and treatment water plants.

To learn more about Listos California visit here.