 Good afternoon everyone. I'm Nancy Ward the director of the California governor's office of emergency services And we're here today to update you on California's response to the ongoing storms We have now experienced multiple large and damaging storm systems, and there are more on the way These storms continue to be dangerous and Not excuse me dynamic and pose a threat to communities throughout the state of California We've experienced destructive flooding of homes and infrastructure Levy breaches and over topping mudslides hurricane force winds in many of our communities and Even had a tornado touchdown in Northern California But let me emphasize we are not out of the woods yet The threat to communities remains and waters will continue to rise even after these storms have passed The impacts of these storms have have been significant as of this morning There are about 6,000 people under evacuation order another approximately 20,000 people without power and sadly 19 people have died These storms are amongst the most deadly natural disasters in the modern history of our state Among among the central coasts. We also continue to monitor mudslides erosion and deep-seated landslides susceptibility We are also coordinating closely with the officials in Monterey County Santa Cruz and Merced whose regions we expect to continue to be vulnerable to these next to three storm systems and To include the possibility of a complete cutoff of the Monterey Peninsula We have also pre-positioned emergency response resources including the National Guard to the Santa Barbara area to assist in clearing debris and Preparing for the next round of storms to keep California safe the full weight of the federal and state government Has been rapidly deployed to try and protect our impacted communities Since President Biden's approval of a federal disaster declaration We have been working hand-in-hand with our federal colleagues from FEMA the Coast Guard the Army Corps of Engineers and others to deploy Excuse me deploy critical air resources and emergency supplies to several of our Vulnerable areas and we are extremely appreciative of all that they have done and all that we will need them to continue to do To date the White House has approved an emergency declaration for 41 counties This provides direct federal assistance to get this these resources Personnel and technical assistance into these counties and we may be adding more Lastly even as we continue to anticipate more storm system the state continues to take rapid action To pre-position our resources and focus on those areas that we know in the next two to three storm systems Over the next three to four days will be critical with that I'd like to welcome and hand it over to the federal emergency management agency Administrator Deanne Criswall Who we would like to really thank for taking the time to come to California and for all that she has done? Even before she arrived in the state with her teams that have been here for the last week or so Thank You Director Ward Hello, good afternoon. It's really good to be here with everybody today Just a little bit about where FEMA is at on the support that we are providing as a part of the emergency declaration We have been partnering with the state since the very beginning of these systems back to the beginning of January Through the leadership of our regional administrator Bob Fenton and the entire Region 9 staff We have been embedded here at the state operation Center Supporting the planning efforts as we continue to watch these systems go through We currently have over 300 staff on the ground that includes both Members of FEMA as well as some of our other federal agencies that are supporting the ongoing response efforts And our focus right now is to continue to support the incredible activities Happening throughout the state in their lifesaving and life-sustaining operations On behalf of everybody at FEMA and myself as a former first responder I also just want to recognize the incredibly heroic efforts of all of the first responders That have been working day in and day out to make sure that they're doing everything they can to keep the people of California safe and Tragically there have been several people that have lost their lives Because of these dangerous storms and that our hearts and our prayers go out to everybody who has been impacted by this event Again, we have been engaged with our partners here at the state since New York's day As round after round of these extreme storms continue to pass through the state of California and as you heard director Ward mentioned Unfortunately, this is not over. We are expecting additional rainfall to come in the coming days. I Am here today to make sure that I can look at the damage personally I want to get on the ground and see for myself get my eyes on it and talk to the people that have been Experiencing the impacts of these storms. That's what I'll be doing the rest of today and tomorrow I was able to speak with President Biden on Wednesday and give him an update on the current state of the operation And I'll be able to give him an update after my trip here on the level of support that might continue to be needed as the response operations continue Our goal remains to maintain close coordination with our state partners so we can continue to deliver Whatever assistance is needed to support California's needs We have our expert incident management assistance teams both from region 9 as well as one of our national teams that are embedded here at the state operation Center and we have pre-positioned Commodities to make sure that we can have resources available as needed To support the state's requests and I am confident that all of the government response that is here to support the state of California Is putting forth their best efforts to be prepared for and not late to need for any of the Incidents or the resources that might be needed to again to continue to support the lifesaving and life-sustaining operations As you heard Director Ward mentioned we are expecting more rain coming in This is a very dynamic and a very dangerous system still And so I would like to ask everybody across the state to just take a few simple steps to make sure that you're doing everything you can To protect yourselves and your families First I just want to say listen to your local officials They are getting updates constantly on what the current state of affairs are with the weather systems And they know where the potential threats are They are going to be giving you information to make sure that you are doing the things that you need to to protect yourselves and your families second don't Stand or drive in water. There is dangers in the water these floodwaters have Dangerous debris and the floodwaters can arise rapidly creating very life-threatening situations And so please stay aware of your surroundings and make sure that you're not putting yourself in harm's way And the last thing that I'd like to say is even if you have not Experienced an impact from one of the seven storms that have already come through here That does not mean that you will not experience one from one of these future storms that we're expecting this weekend and into the first Parts of next week. So again, please stay aware of your surroundings Listen to your local officials Heed their advice and do whatever is necessary to make sure that you're taking the appropriate actions to protect yourself and your families Thank you. I think I'm turning it over to the National Weather Service Thank you very much director and administrator David Lawrence from the National Weather Service I just want to provide a quick update on weather conditions Not only that we've seen but what we expect going forward just crunching some new numbers this morning Over the last 18 days the state has seen an average statewide average of just over nine inches of rainfall That of course includes less than our mounts in the deserts and higher amounts in the higher elevations But that is a remarkable number and some locations have seen their average annual rainfall already occur in just the last 18 days Going forward. We expect several additional storm systems. The first is arriving today Not expecting this one to be overly significant But I want everyone to really focus your attention on the Saturday through Saturday night storm That will bring widespread heavy rainfall in some locations very heavy mountain snowfall as well in addition to gusty winds up to 50 to 60 miles per hour Not only could that rain produce additional flooding and certainly we'll see some major impacts to travel in the mountains But those winds could also blow over trees and bring additional power outages Going forward beyond that we do still see an additional one or two storm systems for early next week Before hopefully we do finally get at least a very brief break in the weather toward the latter portions of next week Happy to take questions at the end. Otherwise. Thank you and I'm turning it over to the Department of Water Resources Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you. My name is Cindy Messer. I am the lead deputy director at the Department of Water Resources And for our continued or during this continued statewide storm related emergency event The Department of Water Resources is actively working with our local our state and federal partners to provide storm and hydrology Forecasts river stage and water supply monitoring and reporting We continue to assist in monitoring of critical infrastructure such as levees dams and associated structures with dams And we participate in advanced planning and response activities as a relate to both flood management and flood fighting activities So that's the department's role in this event We in terms of hydrology, I won't repeat too much about the storms As our partner from the weather service has already done But I would note that we are currently monitoring several river stages There are currently seven locations that are expected to exceed flood stage over the next few days These include Sacramento river at ord ferry Navarro river at navarro Russian river at hoplin and gernville Salinas river at spreckles Bear creek at mckay road And we are also monitoring the san Joaquin river area as more flood releases Are led into that system as well as tributaries being very full. So we're monitoring kind of that larger area for Monitor stage and flood exceeding stages In terms of some of the statewide hydrology numbers statewide reservoir levels Remain at about 75 of their average for this time of year I mentioned this because I want to make a point that there is still capacity in some of our largest water Storage water supply conveyance structures in the state and just to give you a few Detailed numbers around that lake orville currently is at about 1.79 million acre feet That's about 47 percent of its full capacity About 88 percent of its average capacity for this time. Sorry storage for this time of year Shasta is at about 1.9 million acre feet 42 percent of its capacity roughly 70 percent of its average storage for this time of year Folsom is at 409,000 acre feet of storage 42 percent of its capacity 99 percent of its storage for this time of year And lastly san luis reservoir is at 832 thousand acre feet about 40 percent of its capacity And 60 percent of its historical average storage for this time of year And I do want to reiterate that we have had an amazing amount of rainfall as we heard the statistic A little over nine inches in the last 18 days statewide My last note that I would like to make is just to also mention the other activities that dwr is helping with And that's in the flood fighting flood monitoring area We have our department's flood operations center or foc And we are working in very close coordination with our partners here at callow Yes, the state operations center and with our federal partners including the u.s. Army Corps of engineer We have pre-positioned flood fighting materials such as sandbags plastic sheeting for levees In various areas throughout the state We continue to respond to new requests for both materials and expertise. We have deployed numerous Flood fighting experts Geological technician experts that are helping the locals assess their levy conditions They're doing levy inspections and they're assisting with immediate repairs in areas that need it So with that I too would like to just echo public safety is number one Please be aware of what's going on in your area Stay tuned with your local officials and be ready to follow the directions that they may issue As the storms continue and conditions remain very dynamic So thank you and I am handing this over to director johnson department of social services Thank you and good afternoon The california health and human service agency continues to respond with all of our partners across the state and we continue to prioritize specific populations Including those that are unsheltered or homeless Those who are older or medically vulnerable Those with disabilities both visible and invisible and people reciting in our congregate settings across california Earlier this week. We stood up a priority population task force with 21 state agencies departments as in offices to support outreach Coordination and integrated support to our local partners for response of these populations The task force force has been focused on sharing resources including the cal HHS resource guide which is available in both english and spanish Spanish at calhs.ca.gov We also continue supporting messaging around wellness checks including a wellness check toolkit We've held county level meetings with 12 highly impacted geographies around response efforts for people experiencing homelessness to provide technical assistance assess unmet needs And also then engage county homeless service systems social service agencies And local emergency management to work together in their outreach efforts to support unhoused populations Especially in those areas like the creeks and rivers that were just shared We are targeting an additional expansion of shelters and warming centers to support populations as well as Hotelling and motelling for those who are able The task force has also allowed us to coordinate our statewide effort to serve the priority populations Including work with the area Agencies on aging and the integration of wellness checks in the meal delivery programs As well as assessing for needs through independent living resource centers for people with disabilities who may have been impacted by loss of power Our team at the department of social services in collaboration with counties in the american red cross supported 697 individuals overnight Across 26 shelters in 10 counties In addition these partners continue to work together to pre-stage shelters So they're ready to stand up quickly as needed and there are 11 of those ready to go The team at the emergent c medical services authority has prepositioned assets and staged ambulance strike teams to be prepared to augment local capacity And the team at the department of public health is proactively engaging with health care partners in areas that are most likely to be impacted We want to continue to remind you it is not too late to prepare Please do visit chhs.ca.gov and download your ability or template for personal emergency planning Please continue to check on your neighbors connect with the older adults and persons in your life and support those who might need additional help And again if you have a loved one Currently living in one of those congregate settings adult and senior care settings skilled nursing facilities across the state Remember that the statewide long-term care ombuds crisis line is available to you 24 7 at 1 800 2 3 1 4 0 2 4 We have also posted temporary Evacuation locations of any of those who have had to evacuate and that's available at cdss.ca.gov Again want to remind you to take care of yourselves in this event Uh, no judgment if you need support or just someone else to talk to to help you through this Experience, we encourage you to call 1 8 3 3 3 1 7 hope Or visit www.calhope.org We will get through this working together. Thanks so much and at this time I will turn it over to major general matthew beavers at the california national guard Thanks director To give you a quick snapshot of what the california national guard is doing right now So we have the 6 49th engineer company. They are rerouting a stream at the santa sidro creek Right at the randall road debris basin in monocito. They began operations early yesterday They worked through the night and they expect to conclude that effort sometime today if you recall that is Where the 2018 tragedy began so we're trying to avoid that at all costs We also have additional consequence management forces arrayed across the central coast To be ready to stay ahead of the storms as these move through We also have vast heavy lift aviation and vast search and rescue aviation capabilities available At a moment's notice. So just so you know the california national guard stands ready And we're prepared to execute whatever operations the state needs. That'll be followed by the commissioner and the highway patrol Thank you general. My name is shondari. I'm the acting commissioner in the california highway patrol First I just want to take a moment to thank all of our first responders and recognize them They've been working several days into this now working tirelessly all the police law enforcement fire Soldiers the utility service providers the tow truck drivers All of them and just draw a little bit of attention to that Many of them are doing this important work alongside our highways and roadways In very dangerous conditions I would just advise motorists to slow down give them a wide space cushion and allow them to do that important work But without putting them at unnecessary risk I love what the director said. We're not out of the woods yet I think that's important as drivers as motors. We tend to become complacent We tend to think things are okay because we're halfway through this and it maybe it hasn't impacted me Remain focused on the safety tips that we've given you the roadway conditions are Always changing especially in these storm conditions. We've seen large sinkholes We've had mudslides rock slides trees down power lines down The best thing you could do is as I've said in the past slow down Stay safe keep a safe space cushion and give yourself plenty of time to arrive where you're going safely As we approach Nearly 20 fatalities in this emergency We we look at those and about half of them have involved motorists in vehicles Those driving or riding and passenger vehicles some of those were preventable if people would watch the road closure signs Avoid driving through standing water and just don't don't gamble and risk your life And stay avoid those situations The chp and other first responders remain fully staffed. We're committed to this emergency We will be through the duration if you need our assistance call or text 9-1-1 And with that I will turn it over to the chief deputy director of cal trains mike keeper Thank you commissioner and i want to echo a lot of the same uh Points that chp is is talking about we we're doing everything we can to keep the highways open But the safety of the public is and will remain number one And so we will be working with the patrol and close highways as needed in order to do that We've obviously been hit pretty hard by the series of storms to this point We had a little break in the action, right? But the next storms as weather service and others have talked about are right upon us again But we were able to make some progress and so we had In excess of 60 road closures on the highways around the state We've been able to chip away at that clearing trees and rocks and mud Dealing with the flooding and we're able to get that down the last report that I received was 32 Road closures around the state But we can't be complacent, right? We're we're coming up again on what for some will be a A three-day holiday. We know that there will be people out, but we do ask you again if you can avoid travel Please consider staying home watch some football enjoy some time with your family and We will continue to do everything we can though that those that do need to be traveling to do it and help you to To stay safe We're certainly very focused as others have talked about with the Monterey Peninsula We're embedded with them working very closely coordinating with them on whatever needs they will have But it is possible that we will need to close the central roads and so please Stay aware of of your surroundings and what and what's going on in the area in which you are Uh traveling Also, if you're we're talking a lot about the rain and the floods But this is a major snow event as well. So if you're heading up to the Sierra There's a major winter storm warning Through this weekend. Please take those storm warnings seriously Again, we recommend that for the latest information Access quick map. It'll provide notifications on the latest road closures And again a lot of people are out there working to try to keep you safe Caltrans we have 4,000 maintenance crew members that are out there. That's how we're making the progress reopening the roads They're working 12 hour shifts 24-7. They've been doing it since before New years. They're tired, but they're dedicated If you see them working again, please slow down Move over if it's safe to do so and protect their safety while they're protecting yours And again as we're doing our snow removal, please be aware of the equipment and the snow plows and avoid Being in a place where you're not you're blocking them from doing your work that is essential to all of them So thank you and with that I believe I will turn it back over to Well, thanks to everyone and I I think you've seen through the the briefs that we've done here today That we can't emphasize enough how the human factor and behavior Can save lives. We knew that floods were Something that california hadn't seen in quite a while especially after four or five years of drought And we can't emphasize enough how how we can eliminate and reduce the amount of fatalities Just by human behavior Whether it's don't travel if you don't need to watch out for the first responders don't go around barriers Don't go into floodwaters. Whether you're walking standing driving. It's just really really Imperative that you stay away from Standing water don't drive around the barriers. It's critical first responders use these barriers to redirect traffic away from flooding It's imperative that we have folks who are cognizant of their area who understand Where they can go most importantly where they can't go you can get those updates by Plugging into your county emergency management alert system and staying really really focused on the Instructions that they're giving everyone in your area and lastly if you are asked to evacuate even though As administrator chris well said you have not yet been impacted by these storms You could be and you could be at a moment's notice So please if you're asked to evacuate Please do so as soon as as soon as possible and with that we'll turn it over to questions This is a question for fema, but I just wanted to clarify the major disaster declaration still under consideration Or okay Yeah Okay, so that Request is still kind of we have received the the request from the governor for a major disaster declaration And we are going to review that as quickly as possible and is there an update on the Cost estimate of the damage that has already been done by these storms Well, I'll tell you that we have asked our local governments and you know Keep in mind that they are right now continuing to do life safety missions But we have asked them and what is our normal process to take some Focus on to an initial damage assessment data For their costs as well as our state agencies to do the same thing We have not really rolled those up yet, but we will be doing that in the next several days Madam administrator welcome to california In the sense I you can only probably say so much of your conversation with the president I understand there's private matters to the extent you're allowed to say publicly What was his message to you? What's his message to the people of california? Yeah, the president's message to me is the same with any of these events is to make sure that I am leaning forward as much as I possibly can And that I'm making sure that director ward and all of california has the resources they need to continue these life saving life sustaining missions He's very focused on making sure that there are no barriers and that we don't let bureaucracy get in the way And that we can move resources as quickly as possible Can you can you talk about in what areas there was flooding? but maybe people not a lot of people with federal flood insurance, um and also What in what areas there was flooding outside of high risk zones and and what you're planning on doing to help those people Yeah, I can speak specifically to the flood insurance I could turn it over to director ward for maybe the high risk zones What can help unless if you're talking about high risk flood areas are you talking specifically on flood insurance still? Yeah, and so we're monitoring and we've done an assessment of all of the different flood insurance policies that are across the state I don't have the numbers right in front of me But we've actually had just a very small percentage of people that have already submitted some flood insurance claims But this is still a very dynamic event right and flooding is continuing to happen And so as people experience damages they will continue to submit any request for reimbursement through their flood insurance program Um specifically on the high flood risk areas. I think I did get a stat earlier today that in one of the areas That isn't a special high flood. I don't remember the exact place and we can certainly get this But it was like 80 percent of the homeowners had flood insurance, which is a great number But we always have work to do as Insurance is the primary means of helping people recover from events like this We want to make sure that if people are in a risky area that they have flood insurance Just because you're not in a special hazard area. It doesn't mean you don't need insurance I'll say I say it in many of these places if you're in a place where it can rain It can flood and that means flood insurance is going to be one of your best means to help you with your recovery efforts Do you want to reiterate the question that is still of mind? Um Yeah, just wondering for those areas that are not covered by flood insurance. Yeah, okay So what happens is we are in every local eoc Trying to identify and determine what areas have been flooded. What may flood again Again, most of the high risk areas are going to see more storms Uh today tomorrow Monday Sunday and Monday, so we will be Identifying those damage areas. We have a team out in the field in merced county today We will potentially be sending uh damage assessment teams into other counties And it won't make any difference whether they have insurance or not We'll be tallying all of that information to look and see exactly what programs need to be brought to bear What resources we can provide And madam director, I know we had in some parts of the state Yesterday even some sun so the people who are not uh paying attention to the forecast whatnot just your message on Not getting complacent. Absolutely. You know again, we've been in four or five years of drought While we've had storm after storm after storm I will tell you even uh here at the state operation center a little bit of sun had people eating lunch outside So uh people will become complacent, but the the ground is saturated. It is extremely extremely dangerous Especially in these high vulnerable areas and that water can continue to rise well after these storms have passed So our message is clear. Please know your surroundings and listen to your local officials about where again you can go And where again you need to remain Away from and just confirming that 19 is the death toll Right now. Yes, that's that's true. Um, let me let me just I know there's some confusion With some of the reports out that are saying that there is one more death than what we are Putting out and it has to do with we Report the fatalities that we see and have confirmed by the coroner's office With the missing five-year-old in San Luis Obispo county We consider That still to be a missing individual not a fatality until the coroner's office Has reported and confirmed that fatality So there that's why there's a little bit of confusion with that