City Rescinds Yellow Flag, No Alert at This Time

The City of Sierra Madre has rescinded the Yellow Flag alert and is now at a "no flag alert" situation. The Los Angeles County of Public Works has posted a message early this morning that their debris and mudflow potential forecast is not warranted at this time. Crews are working to clean up the mud that has been deposited on city streets.

The City would like to thank everyone for their diligent preparations.

800 block of Skyland is closed

Sent from iPhone. For more detail and additional (better) photos, visit www.SierraMudre.info

LACDPW Ends Phase I Watch for Sierra Madre

LACDPW has announced at 6:49am that “WATER RESOURCES DIVISION HAS DETERMINED THAT A DEBRIS AND MUDFLOW POTENTIAL FORECAST IS NOT WARRANTED AT THIS TIME.” In other words, Phase I alert for Sierra Madre has ended. This should also result in the City announcing shortly that Yellow Flag alert has ended.

City goes to Yellow Flag

The City of Sierra Madre has issued a Yellow Flag Alert effective immediately. The County of Los Angeles Public Works Department has issued a Phase 1 Mudflow forecast as of 8:00 AM, Saturday, December 12, 2009.
A Phase 1 indicates that small isolated debris and mudflows are possible at specific locations. Streets may once again be flooded or blocked by debris. Woodland Drive, Skyland Drive, and other streets may be closed due to blockage and cleanup efforts throughout the day and night.

Parking restrictions are in effect in the Upper and Lower Canyon during Yellow or Red Flag alerts. Vehicles may be towed at owner’s expense.

The affected streets are: Mount Wilson Trail, Churchill Rd., Skyland Dr., Fern Glen, Fern Dr., Idlehour Ln., Canyon Crest Dr., Orange Dr., Woodland Dr., Brookside Lane, Sunnyside Lane, Yucca Trail, Sturtevant Dr., Elm Ave., and Holly Trail.

Residents in the affected areas are urged to be "set" to leave at a moments notice and may choose to voluntarily evacuate.

Status Change Early Sunday Evening

LACDPW has issued a Phase II watch for Sierra Madre, and the City has upgraded to Red Flag Alert Status. Both notices are posted at www.SierraMudre.Info. The City's emergency blog address is http://sierramadrepio.blogspot.com

City Upgrades to Green Flag Alert Status

Posted at SierraMudre.Info:
The National Weather Service has posted an 80% chance of rain for Wednesday, with enough precipitation to produce debris flows. Thus, the City of Sierra Madre has issued a Green Flag Alert. For more information please visit www.cityofsierramadre.com.

City Debris Flow Preparation Slideshow

I've posted on my Sierra Madre News Net website the Public Works Department's most recent (updated 11/6/08) PowerPoint slideshow that details the City's preparations for the anticipated debris flow. Because PowerPoint is Microsoft, you'll want to view it in Internet Explore (Mozilla Firefox shows the information, but everything is smaller, pictures are out of position, etc.). The presentation is chock full of information about the current status of Sierra Madre's hillsides, anticipated mud/debris flow, what the City and County are doing in preparation, and what you should do to prepare. It also includes maps of the evacuation areas that have been drawn up by the city, and online resources you can access if your electricity and web access are still functional.

On a beautiful sunny day like this, it might seem easy to decide to put off worrying about rain and mud, but it's days like these that are exactly the right time to plan ahead and put in place the necessary measures so that when it does rain, you aren't scrambling around trying to figure everything out.

Are you ready?

Is Sierra Madre Ready for Seven?

I recently received the following as a press release, which I posted at www.SierraMadreNews.net:

Sierra Madre is Ready For 7 - The Winter months are sure to bring rainfall to Sierra Madre and City Hall is proactively preparing its residents for possible mudflow and mudslides challenges. As a part of the plan, the City recommends the following tips on how to prepare to care for your family and pets for up to seven days following an emergency. Click here for the City's tips...

There is nothing in the article that backs up the headline. The article is full of very useful information and suggestions as to how each of us can prepare for emergencies, including mudslides, and I recommend everyone read it and act upon the ideas appropriate for their situation. But I wonder, is Sierra Madre ready for seven? Are you ready for seven? Tell us how you have prepared for emergencies - be they mudslides, earthquakes, fire or terrorists.