Whether you live in a flood-prone area or simply want to be prepared, this page provides essential information to help protect your family, home, and belongings. Learn what to do before a flood strikes, how to stay safe during flooding, and steps to recover safely afterward. Don't wait until it's too late, prepare today!
Understand your property’s flood risk by checking FEMA flood maps and knowing if you’re in a flood zone. Even areas outside high-risk zones can experience flooding during severe storms.
Preparing for a Flood
Establish evacuation routes and a family meeting point
Keep emergency contacts readily accessible
Sign up for AlertMarinto receive emergency alerts and warnings directly to your phone, email, or text
Prepare a “go bag” or a “disaster kit” with essentials: water, food, medications, flashlight, batteries, first aid kit, important documents, and cash
Identify safe locations on higher ground
Review Your Insurance Coverage
Standard homeowners’ insurance does NOT cover flood damage. You need a separate flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private insurer.
Protect Your Property
Clear gutters and downspouts, ensure proper drainage around your home, and consider installing check valves in plumbing to prevent backups. Move valuable items and important documents to higher levels of your home or place in a waterproof containers. Also, take advantage of the City Sandbag Program, which runs annually from October through March and provides residents with sandbags and/or sand on a first-come, first-serve basis. Learn more below and click the button for a How-To Sandbag Infographic.
Dispose of yard waste and leaves by composting or using your green cart. There is no extra service charge for using up to two additional carts or paper bags – 32 gallons or smaller. You can also rent an additional 64-gallon green cart from Marin Sanitary Service.
Don’t place anything in the street or in the way of a drainage system. If your home is in the path of runoff, get sandbags and keep plywood, plastic sheeting, and lumber on hand to divert water and debris. If your basement is subject to flooding, consider installing a sump pump with generator back-up.
Don’t pour chemicals, paints, or other Household Hazardous Waste in areas where it might flow into the storm drain.
If your property can be protected by sandbags, consider getting sand and bags BEFORE the rainy season and stockpile as many filled bags as you think you may need. Annually, from October through March, the city provide residents with sandbags and/or sand on a first-come first serve basis.
Sand and Sandbags are available at the following locations:
Terra Linda Community Center: 670 Del Ganado Road
Menzies Parking Lot: Adjacent to the Falkirk Cultural Center, 1428 Mission Avenue
Peacock Gap Park: 699 Biscayne Dr. Parking Lot
How to place sandbags
For best results, fill sandbags 1/2 full. Fold top of sandbag down and rest bag on its folded top (see illustration below). It is important to place bags with the folded top toward the upstream or uphill direction to prevent bags from opening when water runs by them. Place each sandbag as shown, completing each layer prior to starting the next layer. Limit to two layers unless sandbags are pyramided.
After all bags are in place, a light sprinkling of water is recommended. This technique is only effective with burlap sandbags and will not work with plastic sandbags.
Sandbags have their limitations. Sandbags are for low-flow protection up to two feet. Protection from higher flows require a more permanent type of structure. Sandbags will not seal out water. Sandbag exposed for several months to continued wetting and drying will deteriorate. If bags are placed too early, they may not be effective when needed.
CAUTION – Do not use straw bale barriers in lieu of sandbags.
When storm season is over, you may keep them for the following year or empty the sand in your backyard.
When a drainage facility can only be accessed by private property, the City is granted a storm easement over that private property — which means the City may access the drainage facility using private property.
What happens if the homeowner is not around to let the City in, in the event of an emergency or non-emergency?
Property owners are responsible to provide the City access through the easement. Failure to do so could leave the homeowner liable for any damages that occur to surrounding properties. We ask that gates and access be left open for emergency access during the rainy season.
What are the responsibilities of private property owners in maintaining an easement?
It is the homeowner’s responsibility to keep the easement clear from clutter or vegetation and to also help monitor the easement for any potential problems.
A “V-Ditch” is a concrete channel that is mostly found at the base of a hill to collect drainage before the water reaches a resident’s property. That water is then channeled to a drainage box.
Who is responsible to maintain “V-ditches” clear of debris?
It is imperative that v-ditches are maintained clear of debris so that water can easily flow through them during a storm event. For all v-ditches on private property, it is the responsibility of the private property owner to keep them clear.
Remove any leaves, sticks, rocks
Don’t build any structures over your v-ditch
Keep the drain clear from any obstructions such as chicken wire or rebar, as this can cause flooding very quickly
