Tulare County bracing for incoming winter storm, possible flooding
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Communities in Tulare County are expected to get a couple of inches of rainfall this weekend during an incoming storm.
The rainfall could lead to severe flooding in some areas.
Recent storms across the Central Valley have kept the Tulare County Fire Department busy.
They are averaging about 90 to 100 calls per day, when usually they get about 40.
"Most of those are for flood-related issues, trees down, power line downs, flood assessments. We had some large-scale operations where we had to do some pumping in the North County," explained Tulare County Fire Chief Charlie Norman.
Norman says flooding isn't uncommon, but these last couple of months have been different from previous years.
He says the department is preparing for what's to come in the next few days, especially with the potential snow melt from the high Sierra.
"We have several hand crews from Cal Fire. We are almost dividing up the incident like we would with a large-scale wild fire. We have pumps and sandbags. We are trying to get out in front of this," Norman said.
Trisha Whitfield with Tulare Public Works says last week's storm was dangerous with high winds.
"Downed trees are really the dangerous and scary ones. They can fall on a house and cars. Trees that were a worry, we blocked off the road to make sure," Whitfield said.
The city is concerned they'll see more downed trees and is asking the community to sound the alarm before the storm begins.
"If people are concerned that their tree might be uprooted with all this water, contact us. We will take a look and help them make the area safe until it can be removed," Whitfield explained.
Sandbags are available for Tulare residents at the Corporation Yard on K Street.
If you live in Visalia, sandbags are available at their Corporation Yard on Main and Goshen Street.
Several Tulare County Fire Stations also have sandbags.
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