The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday, Oct. 6, to declare a countywide emergency and allocate up to $1 million in disaster relief. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the coming El Niño season could become the strongest in recorded history.
The declaration covers all county communities, including Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe. It allows county crews to respond faster to flooding, landslides, debris flows and infrastructure damage, according to the county.
County Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton first issued the emergency proclamation on Sept. 30. The board's Oct. 6 vote formalized that action.
The move follows Gov. Gavin Newsom's Sept. 21 statewide emergency proclamation. Del Mar separately declared a local emergency over sand buildup in the San Dieguito Lagoon. City officials said the sand could cause flooding if not dredged before storms arrive. As we reported Oct. 5, a Kelvin wave is already raising coastal flood risk near Del Mar.
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center puts the chance of a strong El Niño event this fall and winter at more than 90%, according to the county. Officials warn the season could bring heavy rain, strong winds, mountain snow and coastal flooding.
Lessons from 2024 floods
The Oct. 6 meeting also reviewed lessons from the January 2024 flooding that devastated southeastern San Diego neighborhoods. The stakes are personal for supervisors. Supervisor Jim Desmond said the county provided $34 million in relief funds to the city of San Diego for residents affected by those floods, as reported by Patch.
"We bailed out the city of San Diego and provided $34 million to them in relief funds for residents affected by the floods because the city did not prepare," Desmond said at the Oct. 6 meeting.
Supervisor Monica Montgomery-Steppe, vice chair of the board, said the 2024 disaster exposed communication failures that hurt underserved communities. She called on the county to spell out exactly what it will do, when and how.
Supervisor Paloma Aguirre said storm response must be a regional effort. Families facing rising water do not want to hear jurisdictional excuses about which agency is responsible, she said.
Preparedness steps
Joan Bracci, the county's chief financial officer, told the board the county is taking a "whole community approach" so the region operates together when storms arrive.
Kathleen Flannery, interim general manager of the county's Public Safety Group, updated supervisors on improved shelter operations, expanded evacuation procedures and better coordination with tribal governments. The county has added a community liaison officer and created clearer operational rules, she said.
Future actions outlined at the meeting include a task force for ongoing readiness, streamlined multilingual outreach and a severe weather preparedness resource hub.
How residents can prepare
Residents can find free sandbags by entering their ZIP code at 211sandiego.org. The county's El Niño information hub is at alertsandiego.org, where residents can also sign up for emergency alerts by phone, text and email. The board extended the review date for sandbag and resource distribution to Dec. 31, 2033.
