El Niño State of Emergency Media Briefing 9-21-26

Good morning everyone. We'll give just a moment for folks to uh get into the Zoom start in just a minute. All right. So, I want to start by thanking everyone for joining us this morning. Good morning. My name is Brian Ferguson. I'm senior adviser to Governor Newsome on Homeland Security and emergency management issues. Uh truly it's fitting that we're here on the last day of summer as we look ahead to what our fall looks like in what may be a really challenging season on rain and winter storms and uh an El Nino event that we're looking forward to talking to you about today as well as the steps that are underway to keep Californians safe. So as many of you no doubt saw earlier this morning, Governor Nome proclaimed a statewide state of emergency to help California prepare for what could potentially be an historic El Nino season. We're going to talk about that in a minute and provide context in terms of what that looks like both from a weather and hydrarology perspective. We also are going to then walk you through with our office of emergency services, natural resources agency, and department of water resources of the early proactive steps that are already underway to keep Californians safe. Uh the action we're talking about today is early. It's focused and it's about protecting Californians before severe weather arrives. So, we're viewing this event like a pre-landfall um hurricane as you might see in uh other parts of our country, but uh really leaning forward on the state side. Uh so, more to come. Uh if you have questions throughout the event, you can put them in the chat uh and they will be uh a answered at the end when we get the end of our presentations. When we get the end, you also may raise your hand and we can unmute people individually uh who want to come online and ask questions. And so we'll stay here for as long as we need to to answer questions from the group and really give you all a good understanding of what we're facing this winter because it truly is a a challenging public safety event and we're trying to face it that way uh and be proactive. So more to come on that and I'd like to start with Laura Hollander who's a deputy director department of water resources going to give you an overview of what the El Nino situation's looking like and then we'll go from there as we move forward. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Laura. >> Thank you, Brian. Uh, next slide, please. >> All right. To start off with, El Nino is a description of warmer than average sea temperatures in a specific region of the Pacific Ocean. These conditions alter climate patterns and can shape California's water year. These conditions can increase the likelihood of hazardous events in California. But El Nino is not one specific storm and is does not by itself guarantee any specific storm or outcome. A warmer temperature increases the amount of moisture available to atmospheric rivers potentially increasing the amount of rain any one storm delivers. It also moves the jetream potentially directing more storms towards the southerntherly part of the state. As you can see here in this graphic, this is why El Nino years can increase the likelihood of wetter than average participation precipitation for Southern California. El Nino events are also associated with increased coastal erosion. In California, due to ele elevated sea levels and larger storm surges, El Ninos are also associated with warmer than average storms in the northern half of the state, which can mean that precipitation in the Sierra Nevada mountains can fall as rain rather than snow. Next slide, please. As you can see in this these charts, strong El Nino years. These conditions can shape precipitation in California in many ways, including some very wet years. As you can see, um, in particular, 1983 and 1998 were strong El Nino years. You can also see in the graphic on the right from our partners at the National Weather Service that strong El Nino years can include wetter than average years in southern part of the state in Southern California. It's more of a tossup for central and northern parts of the state. But even in El Nino years that did not end in overall above average precipitation, California experienced at least one month of very wet conditions. I mentioned this to highlight that we do need to experience that we do not need to experience an above average year to experience flooding. Even in dry years, we can in it can include periods of flooding conditions. These conditions can change quickly from wet and dry and across regions. A single storm might may not be enough to create flood danger or it may be especially in places prone to flash flooding. This is why it's important to follow forecast and warnings issued by the National Weather Service as conditions evolve and storms become into the forecast window which is typically 10 to seven days in advance. Slide please. Okay, here is the seasonal outlook that was issued by the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center for December through May. As you can see, the forecasting is for above average precipitation in California, which is increasing the further you go south in Southern California. These seasonal forecasts do not guarantee a wet winter and cannot tell us the strength of any particular storm or the precise timing of any storm event. Next slide. A particular concern during El Nino years is stronger wave action on top of already elevated sea levels. This occurs due to warmer than average ocean temperatures. While there are many variables with El Nino that can be hard to predict months out, we do have more certainty on the risk of these coastal impacts. As you can see on the chart at the top, the sea level rise typically spiked during major El Nino years. We have already seen recent damaging swells along the California coast. I would also like to note that king tides can exacerbate these conditions. Notably, the king tides slated for November and December. Uh these are coincided or coincide with the holidays and so coastal communities should be especially vigilant during these times even in the event even in the absence of storm events. Next slide please. So, where are we now? As I mentioned before, El Nino conditions are determined by se sea surface temperatures in the Pacific, and those temperatures right now are two degrees above normal, which is the dividing line between strong and very strong El Nino conditions. These temperatures are forecast to continue warming. Current models show that is very probable that these open ocean temperatures will break records, potentially creating the strongest El Nino ever recorded. This is what it means when you hear strongest Elnino ever recorded. Again, this does not mean that a specific to storm will be the strongest ever recorded. It means that the conditions exist in the Pacific to fuel storms that can impact our state. Next slide. So, what does this mean for Californians? As I mentioned, El Nino does not guarantee when or where a specific storm will hit, but it does set up the conditions for strong rainfall events potentially towards the southern half of the state than you see in an average water year. Coastal erosion and dangerous wave action is likely to continue this winter, especially as strong storms make landfall. This year's El Nino conditions make it an excellent time to start following National Weather Service forecasts closely and to pay attention to flood warnings that are issued. This is especially important for communities downstream of recent burn scars. Thank you. And next we have Caroline Thomas Jacobs, the director of the California Office of Emergency Services. >> Thank you, Laura. Laura, and good morning everyone. Um, uh, El Nino is strengthening and as you just heard from our partners, uh, at the Department of Water Resources, it could become the strongest El Nino on record. Uh, so the concern is real and that is why communities across California need to prepare today and that is exactly why California is acting now. The state of emergency proclamation announced by Governor Nuomo today gives the state the ability to move earlier, faster, and with more focus to protect lives and support communities. And Callowas is leading that work. Our job is to bring state agencies, local government, tribal partners, first responders, utilities, and community organizations together around one mission. to protect people, support communities, and be ready. The risk in front of us is serious. That this threat is part of a larger and an alarming trend. Human-caused climate change is making disasters more frequent and more intense. Climate driven El Nino conditions could mean months of dangerous weather, heavy rain, strong winds, deep mountain snow, flooding. Um, and Californians should understand this clearly. Storms are among the deadliest disasters we face here in California. And one of the greatest dangers is still people underestimating the power of water. One of the biggest risks is on the road. It takes only a small amount of water to disable a car, and as little as 12 in of moving water can carry many vehicles away. If water covers the road, turn around. Don't drown. Heavy rain and strong wind can also bring down trees, block roads, and knock out power. But we we do not know today where every storm will hit the hardest. But we will know that we do know enough to prepare. And California is preparing with urgency and confidence. This work is already underway. We will use forecast, local conditions, and identified risk to determine where resources should be positioned, which capabilities must be ready, and how the state will support our local and tribal communities. The Department of Water Resources is staging floodflight um supplies like sandbags, pumps, rock uh and plastic sheeting sheeting so we can be moved quickly where they are needed most. Calr is preparing the highways and bridges that are at risk so crews can respond faster and keep people moving safely. The California National Guard is ready with high water vehicles. Helicopter, search and rescue, engineering support and logistics. Calire stands ready with their assets. Their helicopters don't just drop water. They also double as emergency lifts that can aid in evacuations. The California Conservation Corps is on call with crews who can fill sandbags and repair levies. The California volunteers is preparing to mobilize train volunteers to support local response and recovery efforts. And Callowas is coordinating across the state so that local governments know they have a partner in this work before severe weather arrives, not after. And this is what readiness looks like. Equipment is staged before flood waters rise. Roads protected before storms cut off access. rescue and communication teams ready before local resources are stretched thin. California is not standing still. California is getting ready. Public safety also starts at home and on your streets. A few small steps can make a real difference later. So, we encourage all Californians to start by knowing your risk. Check whether your home is in a flood zone. Be aware of nearby waterways or areas recently affected by wildfire. Make a household plan. Know your evacuation routes. Choose a family meeting place. Decide how you will communicate if you become separated. And clear drains and gutters to help water flow. Organize your emergency supplies, including medications, important documents, food, water, flashlights, chargers. And to learn more, Californians can visit ready.ca.gov for more practical steps to sign up for local alerts to prepare and stay safe. This is not about fear. It is about readiness. It is about giving people more time, more support, and more ways to stay safe. California has faced significant storms before, and we have learned from them. We've gotten stronger from them, and we are using those lessons now to protect people before the worst happens. Being ready is a shared responsibility. We are focused on doing our part, and we encourage all Californians to be ready. That is our focus. California is preparing, and we will be ready. With that, I will turn it over to Department of Water Resources Director Tom Gibson to talk more about flood coordination and the work underway with our state and local partners. >> Caroline, it's Wade Crowford. I think I I think maybe the order was was to me, but if it's to Tom first, I'm glad to >> Sorry, you are correct, Wade. You're right. Passing it over to you, Secretary Crowett, please. >> Okay. Thanks. Uh, I'm Wade Croet. ly the natural resources agency at the state. Our agency includes Department of Water Resources, you'll hear in a moment from its director Tom Gibson, as well as other entities that are really important to El Nino preparation, including our coastal commission. The good news is we have experienced um this need for preparedness in the last few years alone. Uh many will remember the winter of 2023 after the driest three-year period in the state's history from 2020 to 2022. Um just weeks after that um we experienced among the wetest 3 weeks in the state's history with that fullade of atmospheric river storms. And we experienced what preparation looks like with pre-positioning of equipment and emergency personnel in different parts of the state. utilizing the best available science to understand exactly where those atmospheric storms were making landfall and where they could uh generate flood conditions and ultimately um was uh from my perspective really effective towards protecting people and property from those really uh rough uh storm and flood conditions three years ago. Um, you've heard it from my other colleagues and we we we read it in the governor's emergency proclamation. This is all about helping communities and helping people prepare um for what could be a really rough winter uh of storms potentially of flooding uh of coastal impacts. And so this this emergency proclamation is all about enabling us all uh to prepare. One is it builds awareness. So, a lot of what Caroline just talked about, we really want to help people understand um that they should learn more about what it takes to be prepared and then be prepared as we go into the winter season. And then from from where I sit at the leadership of our agency uh is helping our local agencies take the proactive actions that benefit their preparedness. In other words, get some of the important work done uh to prepare their flood protection infrastructure to work well during storms. Uh our agency, the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency include regulatory entities that typically uh issue permits for this work. The governor is very clear that right now it's important to um reduce any bureaucratic delays, cut any red tape in getting this work done. So the emergency order is very clear that we are to exercise whatever uh emergency authorities we have and our entities within our agencies have to enable this work uh to happen uh quickly efficiently uh to be in place for when this fall weather uh could come this winter. Uh at the same time, the governor has directed myself and our environmental protection secretary, secretary Jana Garcia, uh to uh communicate to the governor's office by midocctober if there are any other emergency authorities that are needed to expedite this work. Now, simply put, emergency preparedness and response is a partnership between local governments, state government, and federal government. And this emergency order and the work that we'll do under it is to really ensure that the local agencies are empowered to take all those preparatory measures um that they need to to protect our communities uh during this storm. I'll note that our coastal commission uh is already poised um to move quickly in approving its work, including through an emergency approval process for certain actions along our coast. Uh and the coastal commission also has updated information on its website uh for communities and property owners along the coast. Um this much is clear. We will do what it takes to prepare California for um this these super Elnino conditions and what could uh emerge. Uh obviously the weather is somewhat unpredictable. So, as Laura said at the top of our call, um we stand here today not understanding exactly um how much rain or storms we'll receive, what coastal surges will look like. Um but science is very clear that the super Elnino um creates um a challenging situation and comes um when our ocean is already experiencing um increased temperatures and uh growing storm surges. Um, so we are ready to do what it takes to protect Californians. With that, let me turn it over to Tom Gibson. Tom leads the Department of Water Resources, uh, which has an important flood control, uh, authority or responsibility for the state. Uh, and so Tom Gibson is the DWR director. Turning it over to you right now, Tom. >> Thank you, Secretary. I just want to briefly discuss how DWR is preparing for potential flood conditions this year and the actions we're taking to help local governments prepare for a wet winter. First and importantly, we coordinate closely with our local partners who would be the first responders during any type of emergency. Starting next week, the department's flood operations center will be conducting 12 workshops across the state covering coastal, central valley, Delta, and Southern California counties. These workshops are hosted by the local county offices of emergency services and are facilitated by our department. We discuss resource capabilities, share an understanding of local vulnerabilities, and conduct tabletop exercises. The workshops include presentations from the local and from the local county and from the state office of emergency services, the department's flood operations center and flood fight specialists, the California Conservation Corps, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Weather Service. Last year, more than 500 people participated in these workshops, representing more than 100 entities, including counties, cities, and local m levy maintaining entities. Next slide, please. DWR is also preparing for the winter by ensuring state resources are positioned and ready for fast deployment as needed. DWR has prepositioned about 4.4 million sandbags and other flood fighting material at 68 locations and eight major warehouses across the state. These locations collectively house 211 flood fight material containers which can be deployed to hotspots as needed. We also have more than 400,000 tons of rock for emergency levy repairs. We've also relocated numerous flood fighting materials to coastal counties to better preposition for potential coastal impacts as you heard a bit while Laura was speaking. Next slide please. In addition to our regional workshops, DWR conducts flood fight trainings for local emergency response staff and has trained more than 7,000 local first responders since 2015. Next slide, please. DWR also works every summer and fall to inspect and maintain major infrastructure before the flood season. Every season, DWR staff inspects all 1600 miles of levies within the state plan of flood control, which is the integrated federal state flood management system in the central valley. DWR also performs maintenance on key systemwide flood conveyance facilities, including weirs, bypasses, and flood control structures to ensure they function as designed. Next slide, please. DWR's whack back, please. Uh, while we use that one, um, one more slide. I'll just go through the details from that slide. DWR, uh, is regularly outreaching and communicating to keep our partners informed both before and during flood season. We mail more than 300,000 notifications to property owners whose property is protected by a state plan of flood control levy. We're also hosting an additional additional flood fight training courses with 25 courses either scheduled for later this year or already completed this year. We are also planning or participating in a number of emergency exercises with partner agencies and we host levy site contingency planning meetings with local levy maintaining agencies as needed to ensure that levy maintainers have plans ready in case of an emergency. And finally, California Flood Preparedness Week is October 17th through the 24th. We want to remind all Californians to remember this winter to be aware, be prepared, and take action. Be aware by knowing your flood risk and follow your local weather forecasts issued by the National Weather Service. Be prepared by having an emergency go bag ready for your household. And take action. If you are issued an evacuation order, do not delay. And never attempt to drive through a flooded roadway. Cars are easily swept away by only two feet of water. And with that, I will turn it back to Brian, I believe. Brian, >> thank you everyone for those updates. As a reminder, we'll now take questions. If you have questions, uh we'll start with anyone who wants to come off mute, you can raise your hand and we'll unmute you. And then we'll also answer any questions folks have by putting them in the chat. Um Jill Cowan, you're so fast, so why don't you uh you go first and then we'll move on from there. the team will love mute you. >> Hey, Brian. Sorry about uh about uh raising my hand so fast, but I guess I might as well. Um I'm wondering if if any of you all can talk, I guess a little bit more specifically about um addressing some of the the the coastal erosion issues um that have already taken place. Uh, I know we had some some big summer swells and and um and coastal impacts uh from from Hurricane Maria. Um, I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit about about what sort of recovering from those while also preparing for what's ahead looks like. Um, I know there's been um some debate about the amount of uh coastal armoring, you know, that that should be that homeowners should be allowed to put put out or, you know, things like that. Um, uh, I know the, you know, OCTA is dealing with with impacts on the the coastal rail. So, um, yeah, if you can talk a little bit about about what that looks like specifically in this this kind of uh that sort of south coast area. Yeah, I'm glad to do that. This is uh Wade Cro with the Natural Resources Secretary. So, I was down in Southern California last week in Orange County and heard real concerns from from local elected officials around the impacts of the storm surges or the the the waves uh already on beaches uh and the loss of sand and the impact on beaches. Um we are committed to supporting local actions that um that both protect beaches as well as you know protect these communities. Um there's no one-sizefits-all approach. So this is very much of a partnership between local communities and our coastal commission. Um, as I said, our coastal commission has an emergency process to enable emergency permitting of activities um that um that are needed to to protect the coast. Um, important to note that um we want to make sure that we're supporting um the the right actions to protect the coast that aren't going to have even worse cascading impacts um on the coast um coastlines. In other words, um there's been a lot of discussion around um what are the appropriate actions that communities can take to protect their their shorelines ultimately that um that protect them from these storm surges and don't further degrade um the coast. So, uh perhaps not a completely satisfying question because there's just not one sizefits-all, but I can tell you we're committed and our coastal commission is committed to working in real time with local communities on these specific actions. Um, most coastal communities have plans in place um to um to protect um their coast and and communities in situations like this. Um and in any event, as they um request approval and support um we'll be rolling up sleeves and working with them in real time. >> I wonder if I can also throw it to Director Thomas Jacob just talk about the coordination with Orange County on um some of their storm impacts so far. >> Sure. Thank you, Brian. Um yes, so we are directly engaged with our local partners um after the recent events um and our recovery folks are reaching out and getting gathering information from them for consideration of of cost impacts and what they would may or may not qualify for. Um certainly providing technical assistance where and when we can as well. >> Thank you. Uh I see Saul from the Chronicle has his hand up next. Hey there, Saul Pink with the San Francisco Chronicle. Um, I'm wondering when you're talking about preparing sandbags and kind of uh working on protecting roadways that are at risk, like what are the main uh geographic areas across the state that you're prioritizing? >> Laura, can I ask you just kind of talk about the the the geography of how we look at this and what we know and don't know? >> Yeah, thank you, Brian. Um, hi Saul. Yeah, thank you. Um, right now we know there's going to likely be coastal impacts as you're hearing. So, we are prioritizing those areas as a state. We are more likely to have impacts in Southern California. However, that's not certain either. We do have a lot of prepositioned materials there and can move more as we need to. Um, but El Nino years, especially these types of Elnino years, could be dry, could be really wet. So, we have to be prepared across the state for any particular impact. Um, but that's the the things where we feel like we have a little more to go on our coastal and southern California right now and we're watching that really closely. >> And Brian, if I could add, um, in addition to that, uh, we also are looking at debris um, uh, flow possibilities on burn scars. So, we have an advanced planning unit that we've already stood up in uh collaboration with our DWR partners where we are able to identify those areas of concern and then we're coordinating with the rest of the state family agencies um to ensure that they wherever they are thinking about their areas of concern, we're marrying that up to make sure that we've got the different um uh particular areas uh covered. So there's a lot of collaboration across the state family so that everyone within their um specific lanes for example CALR or CDPH um uh public health can also be looking at potential impacts for their facilities or their work in those areas that could potentially be impacted. >> Thank you director. We'll go to uh next to CBS8 if we can unmute them. >> Hi I hope you can hear me. I sincerely appreciate um all that you're doing to prepare. I was just it's you've covered a lot of the coastal angle. I'm in San Diego obviously selfishly we just uh would love any San Diego specific information. Um you know if there's any kind of dollar amount or you kind of waiting to see just any of the prep work again coastal impacts really seem to be the biggest but we'll take any any San Diego specific info and we do appreciate it. Yeah, I I I can talk just off the top on the governor's executive order. There is not a specific dollar amount in there yet. Um, and just to kind of lay that out, there's a couple different types of states of emergency that we do, right? This one is preemptive to kind of move and organize the government. We do anticipate that if we have storms, there will be follow on states of emergency that could be geographically targeted. Right? if there are impacts in San Diego, uh the governor could declare a state of emergency uh which would possibly open up any uh different state programs or even federal programs if we were to apply for that. So, right now, this is a statewide kind of organizing uh state of emergency is what I would call this, but um as there are more specific impacts, we would then follow on with additional waiverss or support based on the particular needs there. And maybe I'll throw to director Thomas Jacob just to talk a little bit about, you know, communities like San Diego and what kind of work is being done to like work closely with them and support them. >> Yeah, following on with what director Gibson uh talked about in terms of the workshops. So we're working regularly with our local partners um in the office of emergency services. So for example at San Diego Office of Emergency Services uh to ensure that we have those lines of communication open that what we're seeing that or anticipating they are also seeing and anticipating. We're going to be hosting a statewide public safety partners briefing where we will be providing an overview of the understanding of the El Nino again to create that shared situational awareness and understanding of what the El Nino means for our specific local partners. And then our um individual regional regional um emergency services coordinators would work directly with the local um uh departments and offices of emergency services to have any follow on follow-up questions and then coordinate some of that pre-positioning, right? So that we're making sure that we're getting the resources prepared and put in the different places where we expect those areas of concern um and following on on any unmet needs that they may have. director. Uh we'll go next to Sean with SAP B if we can unmute. Sean, >> this I'm with the Sacramento B. Um my question is for kind of whoever really feels best that they're uh they're best adequated to answer this. um some climate simulations of strong Elnino events from past studies and also the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration current seasonal outlooks and some of their climate models are all showing an increased rain signal more statewide, not just in Southern California. >> Yeah. >> Um so I'm just wondering how is the state deciding where to stage equipment and resources? is priority going to Southern California or is planning statewide including the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area? >> Uh, Director Thomas Jacobs and then uh Tommy follow with that. >> Yeah, so I would say we definitely are taking a statewide approach recognizing that the the risk is across the state at this point. Um, I'll let uh Director Gibson talk to specifics that his department may be doing in terms of moving supplies. Um, but we again are partnering really closely with our local uh partners to ensure that we have a a shared understanding of what their level of risk is and making sure that we've got resources across the state in those priority areas. Again, sort of highlighting coastal debris um fire burn scar areas and known uh flood planes. >> Thank you. Yeah, and I will note just to um piggy back and repeat that we do have the materials um statewide, but I'll pass it to Laura who's our direct deputy director for flood management in case she wants to add any more particulars. >> Yeah, thank you Tom. I would just add that we are seeing some of those signals too that it is a possibility and so we are watching those and like Tom mentioned uh we do have materials prepositions statewide. Um and of note we are particularly going to be watching for warmer storms instead of you know snowstorms but we have the system designed uh that is capable to handle pretty significant flows. Um, so you know, we feel pretty secure in our position with the materials that we have statewide. >> And I might just share our experience in 2023, 3 years ago during that full estate of atmospheric rivers. The science that our Department of Water Resources and federal partners and and including academic partners use is really quite advanced to understand these atmospheric rivers as they're gaining um energy in the Pacific Ocean. And um over the winter, we'll no doubt be working through these departments to be tracking those storms and then further refining just where we're prepositioning equipment and personnel. Um and then this modeling actually helps us understand given a specific storm um that evolves uh for several days where exactly where we're most worried about it making landfall but then also creating flooding. So there's this pre-positioning that we're doing really weeks or months in advance and then more nimble prepositioning that happens based on the science that we utilize as these storms develop. Uh >> go next. Melissa Lopez has her hands. >> Hi, it's actually Christy Farardo. Um Melissa registered for Fox 11 in Los Angeles. So, I actually had a question because we have um areas like Malibu and Palisades that are not only um susceptible to the the high surf, but are also burncar areas, not just from the Palisades fire, but also the Franklin fire. So, I was just wondering how resources are are going to be different there or if they're going to be different. And I also had a question about evacuation fatigue because we've seen in Southern California that sometimes when there are storms and people are evacuated and and you know um nothing happens, people stop evacuating and that has ended in tragedy before. So I wondered if you could also speak to that. >> Yeah, I'll throw it at Director Thomas Jacobs talk about watersheds and then I can uh hit the evacuation point. >> Yeah, sounds great. Thank you. Um so yes uh I think and I saw in the Q&A um chat that someone was also referencing back to the Monaceto mud flows from the Thomas fire. Um so we learned a lot of lessons from that, right? And so we want to make sure that um we are given really good communication and and uh public information out to our communities ahead of these storms so that they can understand that risk of burn scars and the age of burn scars. Right? So, it depends on how long that burns guard has quote unquote aged, if you will, um, to be able to receive the the water. And then, of course, as to reference back to what Secretary Kofoot mentioned, ultimately we're going to be monitoring the incoming storms. They're the ones the storm the storm that is coming in will be what tells us how bad that particular storm could be. So, we're going to be working really closely with our National Weather Service and DWR partners and state climatologists to make sure that we have an understanding of any incoming storms as we start to see it form so that we can target and understand what that precipitation fall rate will be. Um, and make sure that there's notifications to uh and coordinating with our local uh partners to make sure that there's notifications to those communities. Uh, and we've learned a lot over the last 10 years around how to do that and how to do that well. Um, but to your point, um, there, you know, they are evacuations. They're pre-notice evacuations. And I think it's really important and imperative that going into this season, if you will, um, that we reinforce the importance of of listening to your local alerting authorities and taking their um, alerts and their evacuation notices seriously. Um, because even if it doesn't happen, which is great because that means the bad thing didn't happen, it does not mean that the bad thing won't happen the next time. um we want to make sure that our communities are safe. Uh so definitely want to reinforce the importance of um taking action and lo and listening to your local alerting authorities. And Brian, I'll pass it over to you as well. >> Yeah, I just want to reiterate that all alerts originate at the local level, right? The people closest to a disaster are best situated to understand how to keep their community safe with alerts. And so the people who push out alerts are your local fire department, your local police department, your sheriff's department. There are people who are on the ground saying there is a life-threatening situation happening. You must go now. Um and so while we know there have been some communities that have received many alerts with different fires, floods, earthquakes over the last couple years, it is vitally important that people recognize and adhere to that information because it could save your life. uh over and over in disasters, uh we've seen that many of the people who um have uh passed away have been as a result of not evacuating. And I'll also just put a plug in for checking on neighbors if there are folks who may be older, disabled, uh English as a second language, uh or any other thing, may need more time because they have a lot of family living with them. uh working closely with those in your community who may be at more at risk and supporting them in a time of evacuation is something we'd encourage everyone to do. Um so with that, uh >> Brian, can I can I just say one more thing really quick on on wersheds? As as director Thomas Jacobs explained, there's been um significant analysis of how these wildfires impact the stability of soils. And after the fires that took place in January of 2025, uh for several weeks and months after, our California Geological Survey and key scientific partners including from the US Geological Survey um were part of this watershed emergency response team and they were focused on um where and uh how the landscapes and the wershed was being impacted and where um additional stability or stabilizing actions were needed. So, I just want to ask, you know, tell the person that asked that question around the burn scars in Los Angeles, um, that we, you know, that our that our best scientific experts have, um, for for well over a year and a half really assessed the, um, the the health and stability of of those watersheds for what it's worth. And Brian, if I could add one more thing uh because I wanted to call back out the um the state of emergency also directed the state's uh agencies to increase our accessible um um messaging uh to make sure that we are offering and preparing messages ahead of time again in coordination and to support our local partners um in the different languages. So, we've we are definitely working with our state partners that have relevant messages to their particular areas as well as with our local partners to ensure they have access to um prepared templates around messaging for evacuation in multiple languages uh on our ready.ca.gov. So, it's super important that the messaging is accessible for all of the members of our community. >> Thank you, director. Um go next to to Jesse who has her hand raised. or his >> yes it's his uh thank you uh good morning to everyone um two questions uh the first is and I'm not clear if this was had been covered but is there a cost associated with this that you can project if not is is the governor's office going to direct the legislature to or or request the legislature set aside funds or has the legislature already taken such action and the second question is Have has any of you coordinated with your counterparts in either Oregon or Washington? I asked that because the El Nino won't just affect uh California, but also the entire West Coast and a disaster in one state often affects the surrounding states. Um so I'm wondering if you are are reaching out and contacting your your counterparts. >> Yeah, very quickly on the dollar amount. Uh we don't know yet and I think our hope is that it is lower because that means we have less damage and less people at risk. Um the legislature has funding mechanisms for emergencies. Uh not just this but other and so uh money will not be a gap or reason why response doesn't happen. We go save lives and protect property, protect communities. We'll figure out what it costs later. Um that's uh true across all disasters. And so, uh, just know that there's work underway, uh, to do that. And so, maybe I'll also just throw to Caroline and quickly to Wade on the coordination with other states because Caroline's been in touch with her counterparts and Wade is literally in New York with other states right now. So, go ahead. Yeah, quickly I'll say, you know, even beginning in the late spring, early se uh summer when we first started seeing the hints of this, we were already starting to talk talk with our um Northwest uh state partners and continuing those conversations. And we have a uh an emergency manager conference coming up here in a few weeks that we will all be gathering in the same place and convening as well. And we'll certainly be continuing those conversations. >> Yeah. And I'll just share that um on the there is coordination ongoing and one thing that we haven't talked about but that we're also involved in is pulling together a an emergency task force to understand how El Nino and this heat wave in the ocean off our Pacific coast is impacting all the life uh in the ocean. And that is an area that sort of ocean health topic is an area we we coordinate on closely with uh both both Washington and Oregon. So I do ant I do expect more conversations this week um on both to Caroline's point, you know, under her leadership coordinating the emergency response and then under um under our agency coordinating just how we're managing natural resources amidst this threat. and and I'll give a little exclusive because you guys have joined this call. Uh Governor Nuome will be meeting with uh Washington Governor while he's at climate week. Uh so just know that those conversations are are are happening on a variety of topics. Ezra has been very patient. Ezra, you're next. Hi, Ezra Romero here at KQD. I'm just I covered the Bay Area. I know we're a huge area that goes from like Gville all the way to like Santa Cruz. Um can you talk a little bit about your how you're thinking about preparation for this area where we have, you know, mountain areas, we have so much coastline and also the bay. I know that there's like this worst case scenario, right, where we have high king tides plus the, you know, the temporarily induced sea levels and then we could have backto-back storms. like how are you thinking about what could happen in this area with like a massive amount of shoreline? >> I'm wondering if I can throw that one to Laura just because the the nature of it. I know you guys have been doing some thinking on King Tides plus El Nino. Uh so take it away. Yeah, I would just say any early messaging local agencies can do, especially around the king tides in particular because even without storm events, that is going to be something that is likely going to cause flooding in some coastal communities and particularly I know Marin has had issues with king tides in the past. So, you know, we can be helpful with prepositioned materials um with forecasting like Wade mentioned. you know, we're getting more and more nimble about what those impacts could be as forecasts become more clear. Um, and obviously, you know, work with your county oes's where you and we work with them directly um to prepare as as storms and, you know, the king tide forecast become more clear. Um, but I think early messaging and early preparation for those communities is going to be really important this year. >> Thank you, Laura. Uh, with that we will go back to the chat and the next question is from Jenny. >> Hey uh, Jenny with ABC10 in Sacramento. Thank you for your time. I'm curious with the prepositioning of major state resources and agencies. I mean, does this take away from any other obviously response that may be needed at any point? I think when it comes to largecale responses, right, that's always a concern whether at the local or state level are resources being taken away from other again areas of necessity. So, if you can address that point for us, please. >> Director Thomas Jacobs, you want to take that? >> Sure. Um, you know, in California, we have lots of we have lots of types of emergencies and disasters. So, we're pretty good at being able to keep a um several balls in the air at the same time. Ultimately, when we're prepositioning and working with our partners where they're prepositioning their equipment, um a lot of this equipment is multifaceted and multi-dimensional. So, for example, the swiftwater um responses and the urban search and rescue. So, if we were to have other or fire engines that are prepositioned could be for fire or for floodflight response. Um so, we we we are nimble and are able to react to what the whatever the event is that happens to us. Um but we are ultimately the capabilities are often all hazard capabilities and so therefore can be responding to whatever the hazard is that actually comes comes our way um even if we're anticipating a different one. >> Thank you. >> Uh Paul Rogers, good to see you Paul. We'll go to you next. I'll just unmute on your computer and you can rock and roll. All right, I'm going to vamp for a minute because I saw Paul also submitted his question in the chat. Paul had a question about coordination with the federal government and whether we've had conversations with them and then just also any concerns with um accessing federal resources or um declarations uh given the relationship with the federal government. So uh maybe I'll start with Caroline on the FEMA side and then go to DWR uh on your other on your federal partners with the Army Corps. Yeah. So, we're we're in constant contact with our um FEA FEMA region 9 partners on a number of different topics and so obviously we've absolutely been in contact with them with the um sort of um building El Nino. Um in terms of specific declarations, you know, we remain hopeful that they are going to be responsive like they have been historically uh to responding to what the emergency are that happened. Um so far this year already we have h been successful in receiving multiple um federal fire management assistance grants, FMAGs on fires and even an emergency declaration for the Garden Grove incident down in LA in uh Orange County. Um so we remain hopeful that they will be responsive when when we do have the needs if if we were to get uh an incident that rose to the level of needing a federal declaration. Great. >> Go ahead, John. >> Yeah, I would just add that we have a very um healthy, productive relationship with our federal partners at the Army Corps of Engineers. Um but I'll give it to Laura for a few more details. >> Yeah, and we do have a very strong relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers here locally. Um we do meet regularly with with them and in fact have already met um to talk about potential new conditions and we will be coordinating with them regularly. um they can and will uh provide technical and direct assistance as needed. They have already committed to us that they will do that. Um so it's a good relationship right now. >> Thank you. I think also timely for those of you who haven't done the flood thing in a couple years, as a reminder, just like we have uh federal, state, and local responsibility area on fires, many of our levies are we have federal levies, state levies, local levies, and private levies in the state. And so that's just another thing to keep to be mindful of. And one of the things the governor directed uh DWR do the executive board is to reach out to all the levy owners uh to make sure we're coordinating, which is consistent with work we do in the world of fire and other places. Um, gonna go back to CBS8. Do they have another followup? >> Okay. So, grateful for your time. You guys have been wonderful. I just wanted to ask if like so you said that specific materials have been kind of brought in. Um, does that is that the sandbags that you were talking about and like the the rock or what other specific materials are kind of on standby? And then what specifically? Like I know you said that you're working with OES locally to, you know, to make sure that we're all on the same page, but anything physically like are we bringing in sand? Are we are we clearing drains on our freeways? Like there anything physical happening in advance? >> The short answer is all of the above is happening. I'm wondering if the folks running the slideshow can go back the slide that listed all the stuff. Um, and then Laura and Tom, can you go over just quickly all of the item the physical items that you have, which is tens and tens of millions, and then director Thomas Jacobs, can you talk about like the physical work people are going to go? >> So, I'll I'll go ahead and start. Um, Laura Hollander. So, as you see on this slide, that see those 211 material containers. So those are literal large containers that contain flood pipe materials including sandbags that local agencies have access to. They have the keys to so if they need them they can access it. So it's plastic, it's flood, it's uh sandbags, waddles, all those types of materials are in large large containers that that folks can access and they can be easily moved. uh if we see storms coming where we need to concentrate more of those materials, we can um but we do meet and discuss these containers and specifically with our local counterparts so they can access them quickly when needed. >> And Caroline, you want to just talk about how we're moving actual stuff into position when >> Yeah, certainly. Um, so again, you know what we're going to be, we're working with the military department. We're going to be talking to them about where they may want to move their high water vehicles. Um, so we're moving physical trucks, um, swift water, um, urban search and rescue. Then we are in coordination with our state partners. Um, they are prepositioning different work and are going ahead and expediting certain work. You happened to mention debris on roadways. I was meeting with the director of CALR just a couple weeks ago talking and she was t telling me all the activity that they're doing to basically make sure that they're frontloading that debris and vegetation management clearance worked again to try and minimize the impact of when a storm does come. Um make sure uh drainages are cleared. Um we're talking with our local partners around debris basins to make sure those are cleared out so that they're fully able to receive if needed um if a storm comes. Um but that's that's a few types of the work that we're doing with our local partners >> and and just to f there will be tens of thousands of state employees who are doing this. Every person who works for CalFire, Calrans, the CHP, our conservation corps is will be made available. So the full weight of the state uh is being activated through this executive order to get that movement happening uh and then move more fully as we uh head in and have more specific information on upcoming storms. I'm going to do one last question from the hand raised and we're going to quickly do a run through of uh ones that were submitted and then we'll wrap up. Uh David, do you want to go? David de Mo, can you hear me? >> Go for it. >> Okay. Um, everybody talks about what they're going to do when it happens, but how come we don't have any preemptive evacuation plans? Now, I represent Sunland Tahunga, parts of Sierra Madre, and parts of Arcadia. And about once every five or six years, we go out and we run the streets to see if there's been any changes and if there's any bottlenecks that we might run into. Also, we look at it on the basis of is this evacuation round defensible? If we're sending in uh let's say the LA Fire Department to help with the flood management, things like that, uh what plans that we have now have to be flexible enough that there were changes. Maybe somebody put uh some containers there for a construction company. So my question is is there any particular department that we should talk to about doing a survey for the mountain uh areas let's say uh gosh well first off southern Tahunga sir Madre and Arcadia we had to eat fire just recently. So, has any agency put together evacuation plans for those specific towns and cities? >> Yeah, David, just real quickly, the the county sheriff is responsible for the evacuation of all that, but certainly OES works really closely with them. Um, and so start with your sheriff, but for any reason that doesn't get you there, you call us and we're happy to follow up. It's a great point and uh knowing your evacuation, understanding what the risks are because you're right, it may not look like it looked even last fall if a tree falls down, a road work is happening, any number of other issues, a a bridge washes out. So, that's a really important thing and something we we're really hopeful that all of our communities can do. This is not just a state effort. This is a very much a local effort. All disasters are local and so we're going to be right there to support those individual communities. Um, but start with your sheriff, but if not, you call me back and I'll work with you and we'll uh we'll work on this. So, um, out of respect for time, I'm going to do a little bit of summary of, uh, some of the questions. I'll do group them together of what folks have submitted. Um, we have a couple people who are asking for interviews and Spanish language representatives. Both OES and DWR would love to accommodate you. uh and they'll reach out after the fact, both English or Spanish, if people need one-off interviews with any of the participants here. Um I do have a question in the chat. Uh let's see what else we have here. Landslides, we we hit that. Um lots of you have questions about geographic of where it's going to happen and where and when. Uh which is the million-dollar question of what we don't know. Um, but Director Thomas Jacobs, can you just start of how this executive order organizes us of while we don't know exactly when the storm's coming because weather's weather, how it helps us be more ready? >> Yeah, sir. Happy to. So, you um we have activated the state response, if you will, to preparing for this, you know, potential incoming weather. Again, we don't know until an individual storm materializes, but we've already been holding state partner um coordination calls, state agency coordination calls. Um we have an impl advanced planning unit that is up and running that has areas of concern where we're having shared discussion on what those areas of concern are. We are then sharing that and working with our local partners so that they can marry up their more granular level areas of concern that they know. Again to Brian's point, at the end of the day, all of these incidents um hit the it's their local incidents. So, we are directly engaging with our locals to ensure that we have an understanding of their areas of concern. Um and we are doing this regularly. So, this is something that is ongoing and will continue to go throughout the full Elino season, if you will, into spring. Um and we've already defined um activation triggers. So, for example, 30 days prior when we start to maybe see something out there brewing, two weeks, 14 days prior when we can see a storm kind of starting to formula formalize. Um, and then 7 days out when we actually have an identified storm and we know trajectory and then 3 days out and we will activate the system to different levels based on the the assessment of that incoming storm and the severity and then target to what some comments earlier target that prepositioning from the regional prepositions. We will then surgically preposition um the materials uh and and resources for the specifics of any incoming uh storm uh with again with our local partners all in direct collaboration with our local partners um uh prior to the storm. >> Thanks director. Um seeing 12:00 here I think we got through almost all the questions. Please know that this is our pledge to you. This is almost a like a kickoff call of what you're going to be seeing. Um, we're going to be having subsequent briefings this winter. Uh, we hope it's not an emergency situation, but please know that both uh OES and DWR stand ready to uh support any reporters who have questions we move forward. You are a vital part of the ecosystem of getting the word out and keeping people safe. Uh, and so thank you for all you do in your reporting and how that supports the public safety elements of this going forward. Um, more to come. It's going to be a long wet winter. Uh, but please know the full way of the state is doing this work and we look forward to having these conversations as we move forward. So, with that, we'll end and hope you all have a great day. Thank you so much.