Santa Monica prepares for El Niño winter season, proclaims local emergency

October 30, 2026 10:11 AM

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Oct. 29, 2026) - The Santa Monica City Council Tuesday adopted a resolution proclaiming a local emergency for the 2026-2027 El Niño winter season, enabling the city to quickly procure and deploy equipment, supplies, services and other resources as needed to address potential storm-related impacts.

Potential impacts could include:

• Repeated heavy rainfall and saturated ground
• Rapid urban flooding where drainage capacity is exceeded
• Coastal wave action, beach erosion, and high surf
• Falling trees, downed power lines, traffic disruptions, and power outages
• Slope instability and debris movement, especially near steep terrain and wildfire burn-affected areas
• Bluff erosion, with mud and debris falling on to Pacific Coast Highway

The local emergency proclamation is one of several measures the city is taking to protect residents and infrastructure and prepare for potential storm impacts, building on its usual winter storm preparedness measures.

"While we can't know exactly what this winter will bring, we can take steps now to prepare for the potential impacts of El Niño and help keep our community safe," Mayor Caroline Torosis said. "I'm proud of our city staff for taking a proactive approach to preparedness and working to minimize potential impacts on our residents and businesses. Proclaiming a local emergency gives the city greater flexibility to take early action, strengthen our readiness and help protect our community."

Preparations underway include:

• Constructing sand berms to reduce sand erosion on the beach and along storm drain outflows
• Inspecting and repairing roofs, gutters, and drains at city facilities to help prevent leaks and flooding
• Cleaning more than 600 catch basins to improve stormwater drainage
• Purchasing additional sandbags for distribution at fire stations
• Launching the city's Storm Event website, which provides information on how the community can prepare for and respond to storms, available in five languages
• Temporarily relaxing shelter access criteria for people experiencing homelessness during storm events, allowing first responders and outreach teams to refer people to shelter

The Santa Monica Fire Department will also host "Sandbag Saturdays" on Nov. 7, 14, and 21 from 9 a.m. to noon at Clover Park. Fire Department personnel will fill sandbags for residents and business owners. Outside of these events, Santa Monica residents can fill their own sandbags by picking up free empty sandbags at any Santa Monica fire station and filling them with sand from the sand bin located in the Clover Park parking lot.

The city encourages all residents and community members to do their part to prepare for potential severe winter storms. Property owners are encouraged to prepare their properties for heavy rain events. Community members can sign up for Santa Monica's mass notification system, SMAlerts, to receive multilingual weather warnings.

Read the full staff report or watch the Council meeting discussion.

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Melinda Espinoza
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
[email protected]

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