San Rafael residents brace for severe flooding as more rain looms

After another day of high tides, neighborhoods in San Rafael are soaked, with water creeping up to garage doors and flooding front yards.

The damage currently being caused by flooding is due to high tides, but San Rafael residents say their main concern is what will happen when the winter storms bring in even more rain.

Last January, king tides flooded homes and businesses across Marin County. It was just a month after taqueria El Tucan opened for business in San Rafael's Canal neighborhood.

"It was like the Russian River over here in the Canal area," Christina Williams with El Tucan said. "I haven't seen it like this since the '80s. It's been almost 40 years."

Williams says the flooding this year hasn't been as bad as that, but the restaurant has been impacted by the high tides, as it backs up to San Rafael Creek.

"We've been getting squeegees and trying to squeegee it out," she said. "Thank god it hasn't gotten into the front dining room but we're pretty scared it's going to come in pretty soon once the rain starts up pretty soon."

The city is urging all its residents, especially those in the Canal area, to be prepared.

"So much of that area is an adjusted shoreline," Quinn Gardner, the Deputy Director of Emergency Management said. "It's built in landfill which is sinking, which at the same time, the ocean is rising. So, we're in a double whammy situation there."

The city has already declared a local emergency to divert resources to planning and preparing for what's expected to be a very wet winter.

"We are not going to be able to keep the water out of San Rafael," Gardner said. "The question is can we reduce the volume enough that the roads stay passable, we have minimal interference with daily life and daily activities, and can still do emergency response."

Gardner says the Department of Public Safety is working with community partners and ambassadors to educate those in the Canal, where they've seen a language barrier — roughly 80% of residents are Latino. 

The advice from officials is to be ready to hunker down in your homes for several days when there is a flood event — but also be ready to evacuate.

"The difference between an inconvenience and dangerous is a really small margin," Gardner said. "It's going to be really hard to know if we've crossed that threshold until we're in it."

Those in the Canal are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Unlike other parts of Marin County, many of the residents here are considered low income. Any setback caused by storms, whether it's cost of repairs or days off from work, can have a significant financial impact.

"It's a lot," Williams said. "People don't want to leave their homes. People don't want to come to work. We can't run a business like this. It's really hard. With the economy right now I feel like everyone is like what do we do. It's going to be hard."