Berkeley did not see flooding of previous years in first January storm

Berkeley, California (Thursday, January 10, 2008)  - The first storm of January did not bring the numerous flooding problems that Berkeley has seen in previous storms. Following is a summary of the City's storm response after the first storm of January 2008:

• 3,131 sandbags were distributed;

• Public Works responded to 125 calls in the first three days;

• The City's Forestry Division responded to about 100 calls;

• The Berkeley Food and Housing Project increased their shelter capacity and served 2 additional women and 12 additional men. The Berkeley Storm Shelter was open with 50 beds, and the winter shelter out at the Oakland Army Base operated at full capacity.

In addition, the Police and Fire Dispatch Center took more than 300 calls reporting flooding, fallen trees, sparking wires, car accidents and traffic hazards. Almost 200 of those calls were alarms and hang-ups to 911; wind, power outages, and troubled phone lines often set off false alarms and take up valuable response time.

Several City departments responded to the storm, including Public Works, the Police and Fire departments, the Forestry division and other staff in the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront department, and Housing. 

Millions of dollars in improvements have also been made to City streets and storm drains to reduce the likelihood of flooding. Residents also did their part, by participating with the Adopt-A-Drain program or taking the initiative to clean out nearby catch basins. Residents can sign up for the Adopt-A-Drain program, which provides training for keeping the storm drain system clean. Visit http://www.cityofberkeley.info/PW/Storm/adopt.html or call 981-6300 for more information.

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