Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Proclamation of a Local Emergency for Planning and Preparation for the 2026-27
El Niño Season and Approval of County Executive’s Related Plans
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution proclaiming a local emergency related to the 2026-27 El Niño season for preparedness and planning purposes and approving the plans of the County Executive Officer, serving as Director of Emergency Services, to designate the Department of Emergency Management to lead response coordination, establish an interdepartmental El Niño Preparedness and Response Task Force, and encourage the public and local jurisdictions to take appropriate steps to prepare.
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BACKGROUND:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center projects that this El Niño climate pattern will reach historic strength, potentially the strongest since records began in 1950. Winter weather associated with El Nino is expected to drive a substantial share of County emergency operations through spring 2027.
On September 21, 2026, the Governor proclaimed an El Niño-related state of emergency so state agencies can prepare before storms arrive. That proclamation directs the staging of flood-fighting supplies, priority work by Caltrans, faster Coastal Commission review of emergency permits, and broader multilingual preparedness information. The California Department of Water Resources has placed flood-fighting materials at 68 locations, including 4.4 million sandbags and 400,000 tons of rock. Impacts are already occurring.
Over the weekend of October 9, 2026, the City of Long Beach sustained damage to coastal properties, its boardwalk, and a coastal bulkhead.
A strong El Niño significantly raises San Mateo County’s risk of damaging winter weather. The County is expected to face extreme hazards this winter, including heavy rain, flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, high winds, and power outages.
The County cannot forecast the exact timing of individual storms months in advance, which is why it must prepare now. The greatest danger is not any single hazard but the combination of multiple hazardous conditions-a storm arriving on a high tide, heavy rain falling on saturated hillsides, and wind damage during flooding each compound the others. When such hazards arrive together, the same communities are hit at once, crews and equipment are pulled in several directions, and there is little time to recover before the next storm.
Some of the highest-risk periods fall near the November and December holidays, when staffing is lighter and public travel is heavy.
Other California counties have already taken formal steps related to preparations for the upcoming El Niño. San Diego County proclaimed a local emergency on September 30, 2026, and issued 21 related directives. Los Angeles County required county departments to participate in a pre-season exercise and provide written updates every 30 days. Marin County approved $3,021,000 in emergency funding on September 29, 2026, for drainage, barriers, shoreline work, and public outreach.
San Mateo County has not yet assigned one County department or agency to coordinate and facilitate preparation and response efforts for this El Niño season. The County Executive Officer (County Executive) recommends designating the Department of Emergency Management to that role and is asking the Board to approve the assignment now, along with the other steps listed below.
DISCUSSION:
Local Emergency Proclamation. The facts outlined above, including forecasts of a historic El Niño season, the Governor’s emergency declaration, local emergency declarations and other steps taken by jurisdictions across California, and most recently the recent coastal damage caused in Southern California associated with high tides, show that the dangers of the El Niño season are real.
The County has an opportunity to take steps to prepare and to encourage members of the public and local jurisdictions to do the same. And the County will be best served by taking concrete steps now to ensure that County departments are working in a coordinated manner both before, during, and after any storms or other specific effects associated with El Niño.
Based on these facts, good cause exists for the County to proclaim a local emergency at the start of the 2026-27 El Niño season in order to support preparedness and planning by the County, members of the public, and local jurisdictions.
Issuing a local emergency proclamation places the County on a pre-event footing for the 2026-27 El Niño season and supports the County Executive’s recommended designation of the Department of Emergency Management to lead coordination through the El Niño Preparedness and Response Task Force, described in more detail below.
The local emergency proclamation does not transfer field command from departments, the Sheriff, fire agencies, or cities.
Under Section 8630 of the Government Code, the Board must review the need to continue a local emergency at least every 60 days until the Board terminates it. The proclamation is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act, and it appropriates no funds.
This local emergency proclamation is for preparedness and planning only. It does not respond to a storm that has occurred, does not document damage or costs, does not provide funding other than highlighting the availability of up to $1,000,000 to support the preparation efforts (subject to review and approval by the County Executive’s designee), and is not a request for state or federal disaster assistance.
If a future storm causes extensive physical or fiscal damage, the County may need to adopt a separate proclamation of local emergency for that event. Each affected incorporated city and town in San Mateo County would also need to adopt its own proclamation for that event. Those separate proclamations are needed to be eligible for California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) and/or Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds.
Thus, cities, towns, special districts, and other partners should not rely on this proclamation to address damage or costs from any storm. This proclamation does not require jurisdictions to take any action and does not change their authority.
Approval of County Executive Emergency Plans. Chapter 2.46 of the County’s Ordinance Code designates the County Executive as the Director of Emergency Services and includes provisions to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of people and property in the event of an emergency. Pursuant to that authority, the County Executive is taking the following steps associated with the 2026-27 El Niño season:
1. Designating Emergency Management to Coordinate. The County Executive designates the Department of Emergency Management to lead the County’s coordination of preparedness, response, public communication, and alert and warning efforts for the 2026-27 El Niño season. Designating one department to coordinate the County’s response will ensure timely communication, streamline efforts, maintain alignment of planning, facilitate engagement with other agencies and jurisdictions, and support accountability. At the same time, County departments, cities, and special districts will still direct their own respective operations.
The Department of Emergency Management already coordinates County resources and Operational Area requests, operates SMC Alert, staffs the Regional Operations Center, and runs the Duty Officer program. It also coordinates the County’s participation in the Emergency Services Council and works regularly with Cal OES, the National Weather Service, special districts, utilities, and community organizations.
2. Establishing an El Niño Task Force. The County Executive establishes an interdepartmental El Niño Preparedness and Response Task Force, to be in place from October 20, 2026, through March 31, 2027, and to be convened within 14 days of its establishment. The Director of Emergency Management will serve as Task Force Director, provide a situation report to the Board, the County Executive, and the Emergency Services Council within 60 days, and update the Board regularly and as needed or requested. Specific County departments will be directed by the County Executive to appoint a representative to the Task Force and to commit appropriate staff support for the El Niño season.
The Director of Emergency Management will invite other jurisdictions and entities (such as Caltrans and PG&E), to participate on the Task Force as appropriate. The Task Force will ensure that County departments and local jurisdictions receive updates about expected impacts, actions underway, resources, and open decisions. Each participating jurisdiction or entity will maintain full authority over its own operations.
During this time, the Task Force will:
a) Maintain one common operating picture of expected and actual impacts for County departments and Operational Area partners, supporting decision-making using the same information;
b) Coordinate with cities, towns, and special districts, facilitating alignment of County departments with their community counterparts;
c) Track pre-storm work, such as drain and culvert clearing, equipment checks, staging of materials, and staffing of sandbag sites and corporation yards on holidays;
d) Prepare, issue, and maintain storm-related alert and warning templates, including in appropriate alternate languages, and issue timely storm and preparedness information for the public and for Operational Area partners to amplify;
e) Communicate preparedness information to those who live in, work in, or visit San Mateo County, including older adults, people with disabilities, people who do not speak English as a first language, mobile-home and RV residents, and people living near creeks or without housing;
f) Ask Operational Area partners to complete their own preparedness steps and to amplify the same message to the people they serve; and
g) Provide the County Executive and County leadership a summary report at each stage of readiness and identify in advance any matter that requires action by the County Executive or the Board.
3. Consideration of Emergency Procurement Processes. The County Executive directs the County Executive’s staff and the Director of Emergency Management to consider whether the Board should be asked to authorize emergency procurement procedures under Section 22050 of the California Public Contract Code and, if so, to return to the Board with a request for such authorization in relation to the local emergency proclamation.
4. Encouraging Public and Municipality Preparations. The County Executive directs Emergency Management to ask those who live in, work in, or visit San Mateo County to know whether a location can flood or is otherwise at risk associated from El Niño, register for SMC Alert in order to stay advised of urgent communications about changing conditions, make a household plan, and follow official guidance. People who work in or visit the County are included because coastal flooding, road closures, and high tides also affect people who do not live here. This is especially important associated with the holidays in November and December that coincide with high tides, increasing the risk of El Niño-related impacts during these high-travel times. And Emergency Management will ask cities, towns, and special districts to complete their own readiness work and to amplify that message.
By way of the attached resolution, the County Executive is asking the Board to approve these plans and lend its authority to the importance of coordinating preparations and taking seriously the threat posed by the upcoming El Niño season.
The County Attorney has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
Adoption of the resolution will help to strengthen the County’s commitment to community resilience by ensuring residents have the information, resources, and support needed to prepare for, respond to, and recover from anticipated El Nino emergencies.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The County Executive has up to $1,000,000 available within existing authority for additional preparations for the 2026-27 El Niño season. No new appropriation is requested by this proclamation. Participation by County departments will be covered within existing budgets and authorized positions for the 2026-27 season. If a specific gap requires funding beyond existing authority, the County Executive will return to the Board with a defined request before the cost is incurred except when not possible due to emergency conditions, in which case the County Executive will return to the Board as soon as possible.