Tuesday’s storm gained strength around dusk, dumping nearly
eight inches of rain on rural areas of Gilroy, felling trees and
flooding major intersections. Yet, by Wednesday afternoon, order
was mostly restored and a strong sun warmed the city.
Tuesday’s storm gained strength around dusk, dumping nearly eight inches of rain on rural areas of Gilroy, felling trees and flooding major intersections. Yet, by Wednesday afternoon, order was mostly restored and a strong sun warmed the city.
According to the National Weather Service, 1.6 inches had fallen at one of the city’s fire stations as of 4:30 p.m. But residents reported overflowing rain collectors by Wednesday morning, some nearing 8 inches on Burchell Road. The Dispatch’s rain gauge collected 4.5 inches.
The city activated its Emergency Operations Center at 4:52 p.m., according to Joe Kline, the city’s public information officer.
“The storm was pretty intense those last few hours,” said City Engineer Rick Smelser. “It really picked up right about when city crews were going home so we basically said ‘nope, we’re not doing that.'”
Crews stayed out well after dark, monitoring storm conditions. Despite efforts to keep drains open and flowing, the rainwater flooded roads throughout the city, prompting it to close 27 intersections, said Sgt. Jim Gillio. No traffic accidents resulted from the weather, he said.
Still, some hasty motorists ignored warning signs and tried to power through flooded intersections, getting stuck and causing even more problems, Smelser said.
“We had a lot of people blowing right through our barricades,” he said. “I don’t understand that.”
Wren Avenue at Mantelli Drive and Eighth Street near Monterey Road were hit particularly hard, Smelser said. The flooding resulted from storm drains that filled to capacity, Kline said. The city also closed Silva’s Crossing where Miller Road crosses Uvas Creek as a precautionary measure, but an unruly driver attempted to circumvent the gate, got stuck and had to be towed out, a resident reported.
Nearly three times the normal amount of water – or 20 million gallons – flowed through the city’s water treatment plant Tuesday, Smelser said.
The city staffed the Gilroy Senior Center on Hanna Street with Red Cross personnel as a relocation center for evacuees, but no one showed up, he said.
“We noticed that a lot of people just stayed inside,” he said.
Rainwater threatened about 10 residences, but none experienced serious flooding, Gillio said.
Mark Sanchez called the city for sandbags when he noticed water levels inching up the front steps of his Rosanna Street four-plex and was startled to find out that none were left in the county.
“If it got any higher, we would have been in danger of evacuating residents,” he said.
School administrators had to put a few buckets out at the brand new Christopher High School gymnasium to catch the rain, Athletic Director Darren Yafai said. The gym didn’t experience any flooding but a few minor window and ceiling leaks warranted a call to the contractor, who is still on site putting the finishing touches on the school.
“A couple buckets took care of everything,” Yafai said.
Although the school canceled cross country practice and moved football practice indoors, they did not have to cancel classes held in the gym because of the leaks, Yafai said.
Although tree branches fell around the city, none caused major street blockages, Smelser said.
As of 11:45 a.m. today, 39 Gilroy PG&E customers scattered about the city were without power resulting from four different outages, said spokesman Matt Nauman. In the company’s service area – which runs from Eureka to Bakersfield – 63,000 residents were without power, including 6,000 residents in the Bay Area. Power should be restored to Gilroy customers by late afternoon, Nauman said. All but the hardest hit areas, such as the Central Coast and Sierra Nevada foothills, should have power by the end of today or Thursday, he said.
Reservoir levels are at 47.8 percent capacity, up 4 percentage points from Monday, according to the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Skies will remain cloudy this afternoon and evening with a slight chance of showers, highs in the 70s and overnight lows in the 50s, according to the NWS. Clear skies are forecast for later in the week and over the weekend with similar temperatures.
