Panel of Contributors: People and the creek Panel of Contributors: People and the creek (September 28, 2005)

The floods of the 1990s put a scare into residents

Editor's Note: This is the 17th part of the story of the people who have lived on the banks of the San Francisquito Creek and its tributaries through the centuries.

By Nancy Lund

A torrential winter storm in January of 1995 brought San Francisquito Creek close to flood stage, bringing discomfort and fear to many residents who lived near the creek.

Although damage throughout the watershed was minimal, the Almanac reported that the residents of Family Farm Road in Woodside faced enormous problems. Corte Madera Creek, clogged with tons of debris and silt and blocked by downed trees, flooded some 10 acres and left 13 families without access to their homes. The creek left the course it had followed since at least 1970 and took a new path through Ken and Sally Cooper's backyard.

The flood victims and the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Preparedness blamed Stanford because of a 105-yard long debris pile between Farm Road and Jasper Ridge's Searsville Lake. The policy of Jasper Ridge is to not manipulate the environment; the residents wanted the creek returned to its previous course and the debris cleared. This is but one example of how complicated the flood control problem is in the watershed.

In that same storm, senior citizens, occupants of the Sequoias further upstream on Corte Madera Creek, almost lost access to their residence when six foot logs crashed into the bank at their entrance and churned around, creating a 12-foot cave.

Another devastating flood hit in February 1998. Both the Palo Alto Weekly and the Almanac reported the details throughout the month. It was so severe that Santa Clara and San Mateo counties were declared federal disaster areas. People were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of water pouring into their homes or by neighbors pounding on their doors, warning them to get up and get out.

Worst hit in the San Francisquito watershed were East Palo Alto and Palo Alto. In East Palo Alto 50 homes were destroyed, 105 had major damage and 500 more received some damage. Thirty businesses and 32 cars were damaged. Losses there were around $12 million.

In Palo Alto, a two-mile path of water, mud and debris flowed from four places on the creek to a low spot near Oregon and Bayshore where it collected into a pond. Four hundred homes were damaged, resulting in some $6 million of structural damage alone. Underpasses were flooded.

Palo Alto Weekly photographer Joe Melena nearly fell into an open manhole on a flooded street as he documented the deluge. On Forest Avenue, Ann Ream reported, "The entire street was a river flowing at about ten miles per hour into our garage."

Menlo Park, higher in elevation, had flooding in three spots, near Woodland and Laurel, at the Pope Street Bridge, and around Oak and Emma. Backyards fell into the creek bed.

Although Palo Alto crews were praised for their efforts to deal with the crisis, citizens bombarded officials with outrage. "Why didn't we have more warning?" The answer, unsatisfactory to many, was that the creek's pattern changed suddenly. The water rose four feet and over its banks within 15 minutes, catching the emergency staff off guard. On Feb. 6, 1998, the Weekly reported the words Mary Schaefer spoke to the Palo Alto City Council: "I have lost my family photographs...but I have lost the trust in the city, which is the biggest thing."

More flood control measures were implemented: patching breeched banks, unblocking storm drains, and building floodwalls. Menlo Park set up concrete barriers, creating an argument with Palo Alto, which felt that the barriers would push more floodwaters onto their streets. Palo Alto set up an improved emergency warning system.

Two years and 10 days later, 5.2 inches of rain fell in the hills above Portola Valley in a 24-hour period, giving residents and officials another scare. The water level of the creek rose nine feet in three hours at the Pope/Chaucer bridge. It was within two feet of flood stage. Neighbors, reporters, police and firemen gathered at that bridge and others to watch.

Palo Alto had a chance to try out the procedures that had been put in place to prevent citizens from being taken unaware this time. The mayor, city manager, city attorney and public works department workers set up the emergency operations center and declared a Level One Alert. People could check the new state-of-the-art creek monitoring Website until it failed during the night. Speculation was that too many tried to access it at one time.

An automated emergency phone system sent out a status report at 10 p.m. People lay awake during the night listening to the rain, ready to evacuate. But this time, the water stayed within its banks, and the monitoring and alert systems had been tested and, for the most part, passed muster.
Next: The last chapter: Hope for the future?
Nancy Lund lives in Portola Valley and is a member of the Almanac's panel of contributors.

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