San Mateo County levees are more or less okay, or not

Palo Alto Daily News/Bonnie Eslinger, 7/9/12.  "Grand jury says San Mateo County has failed to prepare for levee and dam failures."

Example, Sacramento Delta levee break

"Five years after a grand jury warned that San Mateo County hasn't adequately planned for dam and levee failures, nothing much has changed, according to a report released Monday by this year's civil grand jury.

Levee failure still isn't specifically addressed in a countywide emergency plan, individual city emergency preparedness plans are inconsistent and two haven't even been done, the 2011-12 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury found. 

The 2006-2007 civil grand jury recommended that the county's Office of Emergency Services work with cities to develop emergency action plans by March 31, 2008. The plans should include a list of three or more officials or emergency responders to contact in the event of an emergency, a plan of actions that would be taken in the event of a dam or levee failure, and copies of recent inspection reports. Those individual municipal plans were to have been incorporated into the countywide Emergency Operations Plan by July 31, 2008."

Oh, this what you're worried about?

But then again.... "In recent follow-up, South San Francisco said it has no levees, although levies are listed on the current Federal Emergency Management Map.  San Carlos said it did not receive the 2006-07 civil grand jury report, although they have worked with Redwood City and San Mateo county to raise and maintain levees near San Carlos Airport. "Since 2007, Foster City, Redwood City, San Mateo and the county have also worked to make levees comply with federal standards."

San Mateo County sheriff's Capt. Mark Wyss, who oversees the Office of Emergency Services, said that the grand jury report would be discussed by the county's Emergency Services Council at its Sept. 20 meeting with a renewed push for needed funding."  Read Article.

Related -  look back pictures of  New Orleans levee break 8/31/05.

Posted by Kathy Meeh