GILROY
– The last waves of a wet and windy five-day storm are expected
to leave South County today, leaving Wednesday as a day to recoup
and prepare before the next round of storms is predicted to roll in
from the Pacific Thursday.
GILROY – The last waves of a wet and windy five-day storm are expected to leave South County today, leaving Wednesday as a day to recoup and prepare before the next round of storms is predicted to roll in from the Pacific Thursday.
Another .25 to .75 inches of rain are expected to fall in Gilroy today, adding to the four-day total of 4.76 inches that have fallen in the city since Friday. Skies are expected to clear early Wednesday, but by early Thursday morning temperatures could plummet into the 30s and winds kick up to 25 mph when the next storm comes into town, bringing another 1 to 2 inches of moisture, according to the National Weather Service.
Throughout the state at least six deaths have been blamed on the rough weather that began Friday, and authorities in Mountain View are trying to decide whether a woman whose body was found in her car in thick brush along Highway 85 was a victim of the storms. A worker cleaning trees and clearing debris found the woman dead in her car.
“Right now it looks like Thursday’s storm will look a lot like last weekend’s, except it won’t be quite as windy,” said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the NWS who reiterated that rain is expected for the next couple weeks with only occasional breaks. “Of course, the hills will have it a little worse.”
A forecast with more rain is the last thing Laura Anderson-Morton wants to hear. Anderson-Morton is a San Martin resident whose home flooded early Monday morning with overflow from the nearby Little Llagas Creek – causing an estimated $35,000 to $40,000 worth of damage.
“We’ve had problems with the creek overflowing before, but they fixed it about five years ago, and it hasn’t flooded since, well, until now,” Anderson-Morton said this morning from her flooded home on her horse ranch at 15100 Seymour Ave. “We were sleeping this morning (Monday), and we just heard the water creeping in on the ground floor. It ruined the carpet, the floors, the walls, and I’m sure if it rains again more water will come.”
But aside from a few isolated residential flooding incidents, South Valley’s waterways are in good shape today and should be able to hold any moisture produced by Thursday’s storm, according to the water district.
“Everything held well here,” said Mike DiMarco, spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. “We think we are in good shape for the weekend.”
Some people in not-so-good shape Monday were residents of several homes in South County’s eastern foothills, who were without electricity for up to 16 hours, according to Tina Bundros, a resident of 3545 Godfrey Road east of Gilroy. Bundros and her husband Tom Bundros were without power in their home from 3 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday.
“It was terribly frustrating because I could not talk to a human being at PG&E no matter how long I stayed on the phone. So I never knew if they knew our power was out,” Tina Bundros said. “I know several of our neighbors also lost their power. … The last time we were without power this long was the ’89 earthquake.”
Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman Jeff Smith said he only received 15 reports of power outages in South County during the storm – more than 800,000 Bay Area home’s were without electricity during the weekend – and that Bundros did the right thing by calling the company’s 1-800 number.
“The thing to do is call the 1-800 number and follow the instructions to let us know your area and if your power is out,” he said Tuesday morning. “This way it goes into our system, and we can try to get it fixed. With the amount of calls we’ve had that’s the most efficient system.”
High wind gusts Monday afternoon reaching 30 mph did cause a telephone pole in the 7000 block of Eigleberry Street near 10th Street to partially collapse and the fire department was forced to respond.
The soggy weather has also meant an increase in business for Gilroy’s homeless shelter at the Gilroy Armory building, 8949 Wren Ave. The shelter has averaged more than 90 clients since the rain began, up from an average of 60 the previous week. The 125-bed shelter also saw its first children of the year come through the doors over the weekend, and is expected to be at maximum capacity by the end of the week, according to coordinator Maria Glymph.
“When the weather gets like this it’s very difficult to find an overhead,” said Jerry Gibson, a homeless man taking refuge in the shelter Monday night. “If it wasn’t for this shelter right now, I would be soaking wet, trying to find a Denny’s to get some coffee or going to the emergency room to stay warm. Being wet all day is a good way to get real sick, and it happens to a lot of homeless.”
In Morgan Hill today, Jackson Elementary School reopened after being closed Monday due to heavy flooding.
Mud and rocks from the hill above the school washed up over the sidewalk, piling as high as two feet up against the east wall of the school. It took crews with a bulldozer all morning to clean off the sidewalk.
A storm drain that received water from two sources coming from the street above the school was congested, causing mud and debris to spill down the hill into the building. The fence on top of the property prevented logs and additional debris from being washed down the hill.
Water flooded the lower section of the school and ran into one of the classrooms. Teachers and administrators tried to vacuum up the water and move everything above the flood level.
“It’s just amazing,” Principal Mike Crocker. said. “It’s the first time this has happened. We have drain backups but nothing like this.”
The recent storm hit Morgan Hill much harder than Gilroy, bringing nearly two more inches of rain to the town since Friday.
A large pothole on the southbound side of Highway 101 north of Cochrane Road was responsible for damaging at least three cars since its appearance yesterday was also a result of the storm, according to the California Highway Patrol. CalTrans was “on the way” to repair the hole this morning.
The Gilroy Fire Department is offering free sandbags to Gilroy residents at the Chestnut Fire Station, 7070 Chestnut St. For power outage information, PG&E is asking customers to call (800) 743-5002 or 743-5000.
