NOAA: US Flood Risk Continues, Gives Way To Calif Fire Danger

CAMPBELL, CA -- With nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 United States facing flooding through May, California has channeled its flood risk into averting fire danger in the coming months.

In turn, the Federal Emergency Management Agency answered the call by asking Congress for money to fund a whole new program that focuses on pre-disaster aversion. Millions of dollars are already spent on post-disaster recovery. FEMA has designed this risk-based-oriented program called the Disaster Recovery Reform Act to attack both ends of what appear to be inevitable disasters -- before and after they happen. The mitigating funds will be earmarked for wildfire prevention, detection and response, among other things.

The DRRA signed into law on Oct. 5 as part of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018 acknowledges the shared responsibility of disaster response and recovery, aims to reduce the complexity of FEMA and builds the nation’s capacity for the next catastrophic event. The law contains more than 50 provisions that require FEMA policy or regulation changes to implement.

"This is a nationwide risk-based competitive program to enhance pre-disaster mitigation to help all states. FEMA is committed to reducing these disasters before they happen," FEMA Deputy Administrator Daniel Kaniewski told Patch during Thursday's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration media conference call on the spring flooding outlook.

This massive change in direction that has resembles the difficulty of turning the Titanic would not be lost on California. The state has come off two devastating years of wildfires, last November's Camp Fire leveling the town of Paradise as the state's deadliest and most destructive killing 86 and demolishing almost 20,000 structures.

Kaniewski visited the state a few weeks ago to discuss the dangers with state and local officials.

"The irony is not lost on me that we have this discussion on wildfires at the same time we have significant flooding in that area," the deputy director said, referring to California. "There are a variety of hazards California faces."

The reality is the difference "between fire and water," Kaniewski pointed out.

California has just experienced a heavy winter driven by precipitation that includes both double-digit rainfall totals in the Bay Area placing pockets of Sonoma County underwater and even a record 38 inches of snow on the 4,265-foot Mount Hamilton located in the Diablo Range of the South Bay. In winter's wacky season, Page Mill Road west of Palo Alto even received snow.

The Sierra Nevada Mountain range recorded record snowfall -- with Squaw Valley reporting around 50 feet and many towns in the Lake Tahoe Basin announcing nine to 15 feet of snowfall. The California Department of Water Resources' last snow survey indicated a snow water content at 153 percent of normal.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District stayed at a heightened alert around the clock during storms with atmospheric rivers. San Jose has received 13.45 inches thus far, the National Weather Service reported Wednesday. Normal is 13.03 inches for the whole winter.

This heavy precipitation prompted by El Nino -- a tropical weather phenomenon originating off the west coast of South America - means a different concern for fire agencies other than dealing with timber dry conditions caused by drought. In fact, the drought is no more according to NOAA, thanks to unusually stormy conditions that have buried much of the United States at various times of the season.

"We're now free of it for the first time since 2011," NOAA's Climate Prediction Center Chief Jon Gottschalck said.

In its spring outlook, NOAA reported "the majority of the country is favored to experience above-average precipitation this spring, increasing the flood risk." Portions of the United States, in particular in the upper Mississippi and Missouri river basins have already seen record flooding.

And NOAA says it's not over.

Ed Clark, NOAA's National Water Center director, insisted the nation in these flood-prone areas could see an "unprecedented flood season" with situations becoming more dire with snowmelt exacerbating the problem.

"Two thirds of the lower 48 states will have some level of flooding," Clark said.

And many areas falling out of the flood risk chart aren't out of the woods.

Half the nation falls within a "minor" flood risk category according to NOAA's spring outlook map -- with a huge chunk of California's east section covered.

FEMA officials are reminding residents that "flooding can strike anywhere, whether or not you are in a high risk area."

Water doesn't necessarily douse fire risk - especially in California

Call it a perfect storm of conditions.

All the moisture bred much growth that adds low brush and ladder fuels to an already fire-prone California. That fuel heats up when the spigot goes dry in late spring into summer.

Then, as evidenced by 147 million dead trees in the state over the last eight years, the huge rainfall totals create a fungus that kills some species of trees. The die-off creates a huge fire risk in itself.

The danger is real to those who fight fires.

In a month, Cal Fire has enlisted 110 members of the National Guard to assist in its "fuel reduction" programs, which include 35 thinning projects.

"We're going to have a week of training," Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean told Patch.

See also

• Cal Fire Using Alert Cams, Thinning To Not Get Burned.

Cal OES steps up

The California Office Of Emergency Services has gotten in on the efforts to help with the state's major winter season's outcome.

Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to California businesses and residents affected by winter storms and flooding that began on Feb. 25, according to Administrator Linda McMahon of the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA acted under its own authority to declare a disaster in response to a request the agency received on March 14 from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s designated representative, Mark S. Ghilarducci, who is the director of the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties.

“SBA is strongly committed to providing California with the most effective and customer-focused response possible, and we will be there to provide access to federal disaster loans to help finance recovery for businesses and residents affected by the disaster,” McMahon said. “Getting our businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”