More rain is on the way. Keep on hunkering down, SLO County | OPINION

Here on the Central Coast, we know fire.

Every spring, we speculate about how bad the upcoming fire season might be. We clear away brush to create a defensible space around our homes. We figure out what we would grab and where we might go should we have to evacuate.

But the type of flooding that happened on Monday?

For that, many of us were not prepared.

We’ve experienced major storms before, but rarely like this. It was shocking in its intensity, especially after years of drought. Even residents who had lived here for decades were sharing “I’ve-never-seen-it-like-this-before” stories.

San Luis Obispo County has been declared a federal disaster area, along with 31 other counties, which makes us eligible for financial aid. Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised other assistance, including $202 million statewide for levees and other flood protection.

That will help us clean up, rebuild and repair, but sadly, nothing can make up for the loss of life that occurred.

Statewide, at least 17 people have died in the series of storms that have swept California.

As of Wednesday morning, there was one confirmed, storm-related death in San Luis Obispo County. On Monday, a woman died inside her vehicle on a flooded road in Avila Beach, where roads had been posted as closed.

In North County, a kindergarten boy, 5-year-old Kyle Doan, was on his way to Lillian Larsen School in San Miguel Monday morning and was carried away by floodwaters. His mother, a teacher at Lillian Larsen, was behind the wheel when her vehicle was swept off the road. Local residents managed to pull her to shore but the boy was carried away by the water. Rescuers continued the search on Tuesday.

It’s a heartbreaking situation, as well as a reminder of how quickly, powerfully and randomly a natural disaster can strike.

Consider: Beyond a thorough drenching, some areas of the county were barely affected. There was no loss of power, roads remained open and there were no reports of flooded homes or businesses.

Elsewhere, it was a far different scene: Trees toppled; streets flooded; people were left stranded at their workplaces — some wondering how they would get home to their children; evacuations were ordered; power was knocked out for hours; and in Shell Beach, a chunk of cliff was dangerously close to breaking off and slipping into the ocean.

And it isn’t over yet; more rain is in the forecast.

Perhaps inevitably, there already has been some shaming and second-guessing going on. For instance, we’ve heard complaints about businesses that expected their employees to come to work on Monday. And some grumbling the way the city of San Luis Obispo has maintained Laguna Lake.

There will be time later to figure out what we got right, what we got wrong and what we need to do differently in the future.

And we absolutely should, because in this era of extreme weather events, there will certainly be more severe storms like this one.

For now, though, we need to hunker down and support one another.

In that vein, we want to take a moment to salute the unsung storm heroes out there: law enforcement, firefighters, public works and PG&E crews; essential workers at hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets who stayed on the job; and let’s not overlook private citizens who have been stepping up to help out their neighbors, staff local warming shelters, offer aid to people — and pets — under evacuation orders.

If you would like to help with a contribution, here’s one way to do it: The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County is accepting donations to their Disaster Support Fund; 100% of donations will go directly to agencies supporting people in need of help on account of storms and flooding.

With more rain in the forecast, we want to reinforce what so many others have been saying:

If you see a “road closed” sign, TURN AROUND.

Better yet, stay off the roads entirely. That’ll be a huge help to emergency responders who already have their hands full.

Be prepared for an extended power outage. Make sure you have flashlights and extra batteries. Keep your devices — phones, tablets, laptops — fully charged and downloaded with some books and binge-watching material.

If you haven’t already packed a “go bag,” do it now. If you need guidance on what to pack, check out this helpful Red Cross website.

If you’re ordered to evacuate, go.

And please, please be careful out there.

This editorial has been updated.

This story was originally published January 10, 2023 at 3:18 PM.