Two nights in a row this storm season, the SFPUC combed the streets throughout San Francisco to clear catch basins and areas of flooding. Several days after the storm passed, the SFPUC staff collect data and information to ensure lessons learned are applied, while they gear up for the next set of heavy rains. “It’s…
Category: Rain Ready
SFPUC Strike Team Responds to Stormy Weather
Stormy conditions hit San Francisco this week and the SFPUC’s Strike Team deployed two nights in a row. In part two of this series , we look at how a Stormwatch activation deploys crews while most people are sleeping to comb the city for clogged catch basins. “We were prepared for the worst, with more…
Working Hard to Prepare San Francisco for Stormy Weather
One inch or more within 24 hours. This is how much rain it takes to activate a Stormwatch, which brings together staff from the SFPUC, SF Public Works, and city departments to minimize the impacts to San Francisco. Severe weather bringing heavy rains were forecasted this week and the SFPUC is working hard to prepare, day and night. In this…
Heavy Rains and Strong Winds Expected in San Francisco: Get Rain Ready
Rain or shine, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is preparing year-round for heavy rain, never knowing when the next big storm will hit. The National Weather Service predicts wet weather will hit San Francisco starting Tuesday afternoon, lasting until at least Friday. To prepare for rain, the SFPUC’s Storm Watch Team has been…
How a San Francisco Drain Becomes Part of the Family
Nestled on the bottom of a steep San Francisco hill is ‘Donna’ the drain. “One time someone dumped wallpaper paste or some kind of white hardened stuff into Donna. I had to scrape it off her grate with a silverware knife. That is the one time I got fed up with the mistaken notion anything…
The Rainy Season is A-Coming… And Here’s What YOU Can Do to Protect Your Property
With the official start of the wet weather season on October 15, it’s time to revisit what San Franciscans can do to prepare and a few updates on what the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has been doing: the agency’s Storm Watch team tracks the weather and checks low-lying neighborhoods on a regular basis,…