All wet 

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day." You know, like in a month or so. I mean seriously, we're good for a while.

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Unfortunately, a nursery rhyme isn't going to stop the two storms heading toward the already soggy Golden State, and more rain means swollen creeks and rivers, more flooding, and inevitable damage and possible death. California is like a drunk frat boy ready to barf his last beer. The ground is fully saturated and there's nowhere for more water to go. Urp.

But rain's good, right?

California—which has experienced a decades-long drought that has severely depleted groundwater and left reservoirs nearly empty—obviously needs rain, and lots of it. However, if you think this storm is going to cure our water woes, bad news. Experts say the current downpour won't have much impact on our drought, which would require consecutive years of severe wet weather to reverse it long-term.

We'll no doubt have more bone-dry years ahead, and this series of storms will be another statistic. After all, this boom or bust weather cycle is all too familiar. SLO County has a long history of damaging floods going back to the 1850s and again in 1884, 1897, 1911, 1948, 1952, 1962, 1969, 1973, 1995, and 1998. We also have a history of severe drought: 1841, 1863-64, 1924, 1928-1937, 1950s, 1976-77, 1986-92, 2007-09, 2011-17. You'd think the county would be better prepared to handle these reoccurring disasters. I mean, there's a clear pattern here.

Instead, it seems like our "leaders" are missing in action.

Any word from our state senators? John Laird of District 17? Radio silence, really? The only thing I've heard from him was a canned press release about how he supports Gov. Gavin Newsom's new state budget, which appears to have a $22 billion (yes, with a "B") deficit after having a $100 billion surplus the last four years. During an emergency, do you think your constituents care about a press release about you toeing the party budget line? And Monique Limón of District 19? Nothing? What about District 37 Assemblymember Gregg Hart? I know you're new and all, but sheesh!

Newsflash, John, Monique, and Gregg—you have people to represent, actual human beings who have been flooded out of their homes. Maybe you could outline what the state will do to help them?

The only representatives we've heard from on the disaster are Congress members—Jimmy Panetta of District 19 and Salud Carbajal of District 24, the latter of whom was a member of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, so he's had actual experience managing disasters such as the various Santa Barbara wildfires, the Montecito debris flow, and the 2014 Isla Vista mass killings by a misogynist incel whose name is best forgotten.

They both pushed the Biden administration to approve a federal disaster declaration for Santa Barbara and SLO County after the original declaration excluded them.

"We are writing in strong support of the state of California's request to amend your emergency declaration to include Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties," they wrote the president. "Time is of the essence. Federal support is necessary to save lives, protect public health and safety, and defend property from damage in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

"In SLO County, 6,000 households are without power, Highway 101 is closed to flooding around Avila Beach, there is at least one confirmed fatality, and rescuers have ended the search for a 5-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters due to unsafe conditions," they continued.

And then there's District 30 Assemblymember Dawn Addis, who also put out a canned news release approving Newsom's state budget. Lame timing, but to her credit, I heard Addis also pushed to get SLO County included in the declared disaster area. She is, after all, the only representative who's actually from here.

Our largely silent local representatives could certainly learn something from their Santa Barbara counterparts. They know how to mobilize help and get it to the people who need it. SLO County seems like it got caught with its pants down, and not in a fun way.

For the record, this is not a knock on our first responders, who have been exemplary. They, too, have been poorly served by the powers that be. It's clear we need better planning and more resources to respond to and mitigate natural disasters like this one.

One thing we have in full supply are good neighbors willing to help one another. We saw regular people braving floodwaters to evacuate others or deliver sandbags or take in the displaced, and after the fact, we've seen people squeegeeing out their neighbors' garages, shoveling mud, clearing debris, or cutting up downed trees. We may be politically divided, but our humanity remains whole.

The disaster has also shed light on another flaw of the gerrymandered Patten map. Not only did it stack the deck in Republicans' favor, it created less manageable districts that will have a harder time responding to future disasters. And what about those orphaned folks in Los Osos, Oceano, Morro Bay, and parts of SLO Town who won't be able to vote for a representative for another two years? Who do they call?

More rain is coming. Brace yourselves. ∆

The Shredder needs a towel before its gears rust. Throw in the towel at [email protected].