Corte Madera prepares for next flood emergency after January King Tides left neighbors 'in the dark'

[00:00:00]In the North Bay, it's been 5 months since storms coupled with those epic king tides brought historic flooding to communities in Marin County. And now the town of Corte Madera is using lessons learned to forge a new plan for future emergencies. ABC 7 I-Team News reporter Cornell Bernard joining us live now from Corte Madera where residents are still recovering from the flooding, Cornell.

[00:00:22]>> Yeah, that's right, Larry and Kristen.

[00:00:24]Uh 2026 starting out very wet for residents in Corte Madera. Just about everything you see around me was underwater last January. A post-flood study is now highlighting what went wrong with the response and how the town is preparing for the next emergency.

[00:00:41]>> So, this is the high-water mark.

[00:00:42]>> My Assolis remembers when water rushed into her Lucky Drive neighborhood last January from nearby Corte Madera Creek brought on by storms and epic king tides. Things quickly got bad.

[00:00:53]>> And there was no um um signs put out by the city or the county or anyone saying flooding or anything like that. And we had no idea it was going to get that bad.

[00:01:04]>> Highway 101 became a lake, several drivers getting stuck.

[00:01:08]>> Yeah, I saw my boat over here on land next to that bench over there.

[00:01:12]So, you know, but I couldn't get to it.

[00:01:14]There's no communication, you know, between us and and the officials, I guess.

[00:01:19]>> As we learned, things are unpredictable.

[00:01:22]>> Corte Madera Mayor Rosa Thomas says hard lessons were learned. A pumping station failed and public works crews needed backup.

[00:01:29]>> We were prepared for the tide that was predicted. Unfortunately, the tide was under-predicted by the services that we generally turn to.

[00:01:39]>> The Corte Madera Town Council recently analyzing its flood response. They say communication to residents was lacking.

[00:01:46]>> But the problem is if the power goes out and people don't have phones charged, then and nobody has landlines anymore, we've sort of put ourselves in the dark.

[00:01:57]>> Leaders vowing to improve communication and real-time emergency alerts with the county.

[00:02:02]>> The berms are not adequate for this area. The drainage isn't adequate.

[00:02:08]>> But making long-term repairs and flood mitigation are dependent on federal funds, which the city says have been temporarily frozen.

[00:02:15]>> So, what we're trying to do is work on getting funds through the state, perhaps through the county, that will allow us to do the groundwork, the the studies and surveys that need to be done ahead of actual construction.

[00:02:30]>> Businesses like this sporting goods store still closed after flood damage.

[00:02:34]>> There's nothing that we can do to prevent the tides, but what we can do is uh prevent some of the confusion.

[00:02:44]>> Mayor says several king tides are predicted this winter. The town says it is going to start stockpiling more sand, open more sandbag stations this winter, and upgrade storm drains. Live in Coronado, Cornell Bernard, ABC7 Eyewitness News.