California is gearing up for what could be a historic El Niño season, and San Luis Obispo County Emergency Response Team (CERT) wants residents to be prepared.
“This is probably the worst El Niño,” CERT President John Spooner told New Times. “Forecasters are predicting a lot of rain. We’ve also already seen part of the El Niño event during the summer when we had heat waves. … And now we’re going to see a lot of significant storms.”
This October, CERT will offer a 24-hour basic training course designed to teach residents how to take care of themselves, their families, and their neighbors when professional emergency responders can’t immediately reach them.
That gap in response can become particularly felt during large-scale disasters, Spooner said—especially when fire departments, law enforcement, and ambulance services become stretched thin across the county.
“It’s going to tax the local first responder resources,” Spooner said of a major El Niño event. “They won’t have enough resources to back up the local resources because those resources are going to be dealing with the same problems in their area.”
CERT is a nationally supported FEMA program implemented at the local level. Volunteers learn basic disaster response skills, including medical operations, fire safety, team organization, and light search and rescue.
“We augment the first responders,” Spooner said. “We can relieve the firefighters and law enforcement people of the trivial tasks like traffic management or just going to get lunches for them when they’re working, so that the experienced people can do the work in the incident.”
The Atascadero course will focus on hazards familiar to the Central Coast: wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding.
Participants will learn how to create evacuation and family communication plans, assemble go-bags and shelter-in-place supplies, receive emergency alerts, extinguish small fires, search damaged structures, rescue victims, and provide basic medical care.
The final day will also include a special presentation on El Niño and flooding, including how residents can protect their homes with sandbags and what to do when flooding threatens residents.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a statewide state of emergency on Sept. 21 ahead of the developing El Niño, allowing California to mobilize resources and speed up preparations for potential flooding, landslides, coastal hazards, and severe winter storms. Federal forecasters estimate a greater than 90 percent chance of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter, according to the governor’s office.
Newsom’s emergency proclamation directs agencies to stage sandbags, pumps, traffic-control equipment, and other emergency supplies while preparing the California National Guard to assist with flood response and search-and-rescue operations if needed.
For Spooner, preparation at home starts before the disaster arrives.
CERT teaches residents to sign up for emergency notifications, know multiple evacuation routes, keep supplies available, and consider how neighbors can help one another when roads are blocked or emergency crews are elsewhere.
“Working with your neighbors to respond to a disaster is a lot more powerful than just trying to do it individually,” Spooner said.
The Atascadero CERT Basic Training Course will be held at the Colony Park Recreation Center, 5599 Traffic Way, on Oct. 6, 8, 13, and 15 from 6 to 9 p.m., followed by a review and disaster scenario on Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The course costs $40 for Atascadero residents and $42 for nonresidents. Participants must be 18 years or older and must attend all sessions to receive a FEMA Certificate of Completion.
Register at slocountycert.org/training or call (805) 470-3360.
Fast facts
• We Are Atascadero Pride will host a National Coming Out Day Picnic on Oct. 11 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Atascadero Lake Park. The free community gathering will celebrate LGBTQ-plus people and provide an informal space for friends, families, allies, and neighbors to connect. More information is available through WAAPCC.org or follow
@weareatascaderopride on social media.
• The Creston Women’s Club with host its second Bloody Mary Battle, Burritos & Bovine Bingo on Oct. 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Creston Rodeo Grounds, 6180 Webster Road. Central Coast mixologists will compete for judges’ choice, crowd favorite, and best presentation awards, with admission including 10 Bloody Mary samples. The event will also feature $5 burritos from the Creston Men’s Club, local vendors, live music from Peach and the Jam, and Bovine Bingo. Tickets are $35 in advance or $45 at the door. Learn more and purchase tickets at crestonbloodymarybattle.com. ∆
Reach Staff Writer Chloë Hodge at chodge@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2026.
