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Pleasanton is bolstering its emergency preparedness efforts ahead of a winter that federal forecasters say has more than a 90% chance of bringing a very strong El Niño.
Emergency Services Manager Leo Lopez told the Pleasanton City Council on Tuesday that the city recently launched its “Be Ready, Pleasanton” campaign, sending out information to the community and city staff about signing up for emergency alerts, knowing their evacuation zones and how to make an emergency plan so they’re ready for disasters like fires, storms and earthquakes.
The campaign also informed residents about how to get involved with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and gave residents an opportunity to share feedback on things like emergency alerts. Lopez noted more residents are signing up for emergency-alert services compared to last year.
In addition, Lopez said, the city recently formalized its first-ever Pleasanton Emergency Preparedness Committee, which used to just be an ad hoc disaster preparedness working group; and improved its emergency preparedness page by moving evacuation maps higher on the website, changes prompted after the Little Fire, which burned over 1,000 acres of land just south of the city’s boundaries in July.
The City Council identified emergency preparedness as the top priority in its five-year One Pleasanton Strategic Plan.
Lopez said that over the last year, the city has trained about 80% of its staff, or 260 people, through the disaster academy program, which is designed to teach disaster service workers basic and advanced skills.
That training comes as experts expect what has been dubbed a “Super El Niño” to significantly impact California over the next six months to a year, including bringing extreme storms and floods, as well as atmospheric rivers, to most of Southern California, according to the United States Geological Survey website.
“El Niño continues to strengthen, with a strong-to-very strong El Niño likely through January-March 2027,” according to a National Weather Service diagnostic discussion.
Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch noted the impact will likely be felt locally.
“Right now, the current forecast is a 69% chance of a historic event that exceeds previous El Niño events for Pleasanton and this region that we are in,” Balch said at the Oct. 6 council meeting.
Lopez said the wet season, in which the state receives most of its rainfall, typically runs from October to April.
Balch referenced the 2023 winter storms that hit the Tri-Valley with major flooding and asked about the city’s plans for dealing with upcoming storms.
Lopez said the city’s Public Works Department has been cleaning the storm drain system and preparing sandbags, which will be available for pickup by residents at the city’s Operations Services Center on Busch Road.
He also said the city will meet with other organizations, such as the county office of emergency preparedness, to share information on what different organizations in the county are doing to prepare for the wet season.
Councilmember Julie Testa asked what the city is doing to help unhoused people who might be living near a creek during floods and extreme weather. Lopez pointed to the Pleasanton Police Department’s outreach program, in which officers check in on people who are unhoused during severe weather events.
Lopez also said the city offers unhoused individuals information about Pleasanton Public Library services, including its cooling center for extremely hot days. Police Lt. Nicholas Albert said the department is working to inform the unhoused community about available services and resources and are working with faith-based organizations that can help provide temporary housing.
Councilmembers said residents should take steps now to ensure they’re ready for winter.
“We’ve gotten a little test of our emergency preparedness, which I would consider to be passed with flying colors,” Councilmember Matt Gaidos said. “It looks like there’s more coming with El Niño, so get your sandbags filled up over there on Busch Road.”
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