Visalia residents urged to stock up on sandbags

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Patricia Humphrey lives in a flood prone area in Visalia. And if the waters rise from this next storm, she won't be taking advantage of the city's free sandbags.

"In fact, the sandbags sort of hold whatever water we get in here from the drainage off the roof of the house, stays in here and it even gets worse." said Humphrey.

Other neighbors were thankful for the sandbags back in December when a major storm left their street flooded and threatened many of their homes. Visalia fire fighters ended up using an industrial pump to get the water out.

The heavy rain also caused McDermott Park's basin to overflow -- forcing Caltrans crews to close down Highway 198 near Akers due to flooding.

Battalion Chief Doyle Sewell says the fire department will be monitoring these known trouble spots and will be on standby 24/7 should any problems arise.

"We have some overflow precautions in place on the McDermott basin that we had problems with in December. So we're feeling somewhat confident that we're ready." said Sewell.

People will also have to be cautious while driving near Ferguson and Shirk. Road closure signs still surround a large depression in the road that's making it too dangerous to pass through.

Sand and sandbags will be available, in the parking lots of the following Visalia fire stations:

Fire Station #51: 309 S. Johnson St.
Fire Station #54: 440 W. Ferguson St.
Fire Station #55: 6921 W. Ferguson St.

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tulare county, visalia, storm, flooding, local, tommy tran

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