One Day to Prepare

Water exited under the fence.

Sunday's rain flooded the backyard, and the storm water exited under the fence to the street.

Yesterday was spent smoothing over the channel, then digging a trench to direct the water elsewhere (we have poor drainage).

Outside the fence the dirt was covered with a garden cloth to reduce erosion.

These moves may not be enough to protect against the more intense winds and rain that will begin tonight, but admittedly our problems are minor compared to our fellow citizens.

Papering over the problem.

Wednesday night headline: strong winds and heavy rain batter Bay Area

With many more hours of rain and winds yet to come into Thursday morning, the tempest had already left its mark, with at least one fatality and widespread havoc across the larger Bay Area, including downed power lines, blocked roads, mudslides and more.

Images of a massive bomb cyclone showed a thick swirling band slamming into the Northern California coast, pushing wind gusts over 40 mph around the Bay and into the 80 mph range at higher elevations by early evening.

Reports poured in of downed power lines in Marin County, waves pitching over the Embarcadero in San Francisco, fallen trees blocking both lanes of Hwy. 1 in Mendocino County, mudslides near multimillion-dollar homes in San Jose, flooding and washed-out trails in San Mateo County and evacuations in Richmond below a fissure-covered hillside.

41,000 PG&E customers on the Peninsula are without power. So far, so good. I hope our luck holds up.