Storm puts residents along San Jose's Coyote Creek in flood danger

Lilian Kim Image
ByLilian Kim KGO logo
Monday, February 20, 2017
Storm puts residents along San Jose's Coyote Creek in flood danger
The storm is expected to hit the South Bay first and the mayor of San Jose issued a warning to the people who live along Coyote Creek as it's flowing high and may overrun its banks Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The storm is expected to hit the South Bay first and the mayor of San Jose issued a warning to the people who live along Coyote Creek as it's flowing high and may overrun its banks Monday.

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Residents along Coyote Creek aren't used to seeing the high water levels. They're a result of ongoing releases from Anderson Dam.

With the approaching storm, neighborhoods could be at risk. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo posted a warning on Facebook that areas where the creek channel narrows, such as Rock Spring and Golden Wheel Park may see some flooding.

Residents are being reminded of the city's sandbag locations.

"Lot of people around here too so might be, hope to God don't happen," said San Jose resident Ruben Lechuga. "But if it does, we just move out for a while and see what happens. It's all we can do."

Crews are doing what they can in advance of the high winds and heavy rain that's expected.

In East Palo Alto workers are repairing potholes using sandbags to make roads a little smoother.

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In Portola Valley it's going to take a lot more than sandbags to fix a section of roadway eroding near the Los Trancos Creek bank along Arasteradero Road near Alpine Road.

There's now a 10-foot drop-off and with the storm, coming residents are fearing the worst.

"I did two scenarios that I was afraid would happen. One--somebody would put a vehicle in that creek upside down and drown," said resident Mike Houlihan. "Or two--a load o bicycles would get knocked off and fall into the creek. Something's going to trigger that road from from breaking away and the more ground we lose underneath it the sooner it's going to happen."

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