Atmospheric River Promises Heavy Rain, Wind, Flooding In Laguna

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Thursday's calm before the storm gives residents time to prepare for flooding in Laguna Beach.

The City of Laguna Beach is expected to be impacted by a storm tonight and much of Friday, the city manager's office reported Thursday.

Intermittent periods of heavy rain and potential localized flooding are likely, they say, and flash flooding may be possible.

"The most significant part of the storm is predicted Thursday and Friday," City Manager John Pietig wrote. "Downtown business owners and residents should put flood gates into place as a precautionary measure to protect property and inventory."

As a reminder, the City of Laguna Beach provides pre-filled sandbags to residents and business owners from two locations. These sandbags are not for contractors.

1. Act V parking lot – 1900 Laguna Canyon Road
2. Aliso Beach East parking – 31118 Coast Highway

Sandbags are also available at Laguna Beach’s four fire stations.

They are free; however, you must provide your own sand. It is not permitted to fill them with sand from Laguna’s beaches or playgrounds.

For local locations where you can purchase sand, please visit www.lagunabeachcity.net.

All residents should be registered on www.AlertOC.com- Orange County's mass notification system, Pietig suggests.

Register with your cell phone numbers, text numbers, and email addresses, as well as work and home addresses, to ensure you receive proper notifications for each location.

"AlertOC is a critical link for residents and businesses to immediately learn of any required actions in an emergency," he says. "You should also register for Laguna Beach’s Nixle Community Alert system for local weather-related information, traffic-related information, and urgent safety messages in the City. To sign up, text 92651 to 888-777.

To avoid being trapped when floodwaters threaten your area, the best way to protect yourself and your family is to evacuate before the flooding starts. Weather watches, warnings, and evacuation notices are science-based predictions intended to provide adequate time for evacuation.

Those who wait for actual confirmation of catastrophic levels may be trapped by flooding or traffic.

Please visit www.lagunabeachcity.net/getprepared for further information about Emergency Preparedness and video footage from past Laguna Beach disasters.