City of San Anselmo, Danville Use Nextdoor to Communicate with Residents During Flooding

The storm lashed across Marin County north of San Francisco, bringing down trees, toppling power lines, and making flood alarms blare.

In San Anselmo, a small town nestled in the hills of Marin County, Nextdoor was the primary way the town communicated with residents regarding imminent flooding and road closures. Town Clerk Carla Kacmar posted several times during the storm’s duration.

“The San Anselmo creek level is currently at 11 feet,” she wrote. “Typically, flooding occurs when the creek exceeds 13 feet. In the event of imminent flooding, the Town will sound the flood horn with 5 blasts, a pause, 5 blasts, a pause and 5 blasts. This means that the creek is likely to exceed its banks. If you hear the flood horn and you live in an area that floods, you should immediately get to a second story or to higher ground.”

In Danville, California, a suburb east of San Francisco, Public Information Coordinator Geoff Gillette sent out Urgent Alerts and regular posts to neighborhoods across Danville, keeping neighbors apprised of flooding and power outages after a major power line went down along one of Danville’s main roads.

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The downed tree that toppled a power line in Danville, sending over 1,000 residents into the dark.

“Scattered power outages are being reported after a falling tree took down a power line on Vista Grande Street at Camino Tassajara,” he wrote. “Police are on the scene, and the intersection is currently closed.”  

Thankfully, the storms passed without causing too much further damage to the San Francisco Bay Area – and thanks to Nextdoor, residents in both San Anselmo and Danville can rest easy knowing that their local public agencies have an easy way to communicate should another storm blow in.

Do you have a story about how you’ve used Nextdoor in your neighborhood? Let us know.

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Header image courtesy of Jim Collier/Marin Independent Journal.