Preparing the Home For Winter

By Zach Friend, County Supervisor 2nd District

Last month I wrote about the things the County is doing to help prepare for a potentially strong El Niño winter. I held a community meeting in Aptos with local public works and public safety agencies to provide residents preparedness information and worked with the County to create a resource page — www.santacruzcounty.us/elnino.

This month I’d like to discuss the things each of us can do to prepare our own home for the upcoming rainy season including sharing things I’ve done at my own home to help prepare.

Many weather models forecast a strong winter season paralleling the winters of 1982-83 and 1997-98. While it’s possible these forecasts will end up being incorrect, it’s always best to be prepared.

Local public works, fire and emergency services personnel are encouraging residents to winterize their homes and create supply kits for your car, homes and business should it be necessary. If strong rains and winds occur, it’s possible that areas will be without power for multiple days or for that roads can become impassible. Therefore, one of the best things we can do to help out local emergency responders it to be as self-sufficient as possible so they can dedicate their resources to the most pressing needs.

At my home I created a disaster supply kit with:

• A flashlight
• Batteries
• A first aid kit
• Water
• Canned food and can opener
• Battery cell phone chargers
• Items for my infant (diapers/food)
• Formula and diapers for babies
• Battery powered radio

In addition, I cleared out the drains around my home including all of the rooftop drains. I inspected my roof to make sure everything appeared intact, sealed cracks in areas around windows and doors and installed a French drain system to divert water away from my home. Inside my home, I obtained new power surge protectors to protect my electronic items and checked and cleaned my heating system.

Lastly, I’ve stocked up on bags of soil to use in place of sandbags. Soil can easily be reused around my home after the winter is over. Soil, however, can be a bit pricey and the County, local fire agencies and many local cities will have free sandbag distribution locations over the coming months.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you need any additional suggestions, please feel free to reach out to our office at 454-2200 or the local Red Cross at 462-2881. We all have a part in keeping our community safe this winter!