Issue 176 - October 2026
NEWS: WORTHY
Preparing for a Wet Winter: What a Strong El Niño Means for Your Agency
In recognition of this, the Authority recently recorded a webinar with Bethany Ring, a partner with Graves & King LLP, and one of the Authority’s liability defense attorneys. In addition to her litigation practice, Bethany has spent 17 years as a scientific expert in civil engineering and environmental science matters, including floodplain hydraulics and rainfall analysis. Members are encouraged to view the on-demand webinar and share it with public works, emergency management, and maintenance staff.
Significant weather events can generate both property and liability losses. While preparation helps prevent and reduce property losses, it has the greatest impact on liability, since these losses are largely determined by what the agency knew, whether the agency adequately inspected and maintained its property, and whether it documented these activities. Preparation helps agencies limit liability exposure, reduce costs, and better defend against claims.
Before the Storm: Agency Preparation
- Clean and maintain all storm drains, culverts, catch basins, and channel systems.
- Identify known problem areas and stage resources (equipment, materials, etc.) near those areas. Use institutional knowledge from long-tenured maintenance staff who often know exactly where water collects and where trees tend to fall.
- Self-evaluate. What issues are unique to your agency? What issues could arise in neighboring jurisdictions that could affect you, such as upstream flows or shared roadways?
- Account for recent disasters. Burn scars from recent wildfires significantly increase the risk of debris flows and mudslides.
- Execute mutual aid and shared resource agreements now, rather than in the middle of an event.
- Review your Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) with all departments, including police and fire. Confirm the plan for losing cell service, internet, or 911; when and how the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be activated; and test local emergency notification systems.
Before the Storm: Communicating with Residents
Members are also encouraged to prepare residents using a variety of channels such as social media, flyers, emails, utility bill inserts, and emergency broadcast systems. Key messages include:
- Sandbag locations and availability.
- Moving water reminders (“Turn around, don’t drown”), including how little fast-moving water it takes to sweep away a person or vehicle.
- Staying away from downed electrical lines.
- Stocking up on supplies before a storm arrives.
- Emergency contacts and alternate means of communication.
During the Storm
- Conduct storm patrols and watch known problem areas closely.
- Have extra personnel on call, and know in advance where additional supplies and equipment can be obtained if needed.
- Establish departmental central commands and maintain constant communication with police, fire, and the EOC.
- Avoid overextending or over-committing resources and personnel.
- Be prepared to pivot quickly when unexpected problems arise.
- Understand how and why to declare a local emergency, which can be critical to accessing state and federal disaster assistance.
Documentation
Documentation is often a public agency’s best defense when a storm-related claim is filed, sometimes months or years after the event.
- How: Photos with dates and locations, notes, or documentation in a computer system are all acceptable. The best method is the one staff will actually use.
- During the event: Record communications among departments and use forms, spreadsheets, or logs that are in place before the storm arrives.
- After the event: Complete documentation as soon as possible. Reflective notes written after the fact are acceptable if contemporaneous notes were not possible, but the sooner the better.
- Train staff: Training on documentation protocols makes the practice second nature. Consider what level of documentation makes sense for each level of employee, from field crews to department heads.
Inspection, maintenance, and cleaning records created before the season are just as important as storm-day records. They demonstrate that the agency took reasonable steps to maintain its property.
Engineering Considerations
Where temporary measures, such as barriers, diversions, or road protections, will be in place for more than a few days or beyond a single storm event, members should have a signed and stamped plan prepared by a licensed engineer. This documents that the measure reflects professional engineering judgment rather than an ad hoc field decision.
Preparing for winter weather is good practice every year, but it is especially important in a projected strong El Niño season. Members are encouraged to review their storm preparations now and document every step along the way.
If you have questions, please contact your regional risk manager.
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