Revisiting: The San Jose Floods of Early 2017 and the Anderson Reservoir Spillover (SHORT)

The beginning of the year 2017 isn't so lucky for much of Silicon Valley. Rain has kept pounding hard at Santa Clara County and southward, filling up water banks faster than what engineers can do. But what I saw is a bleak picture that is trying to put much of downtown San Jose in ruins.

Television crews and many volunteer Fresco News users were scattered all over Silicon Valley, including myself, who I dedicated much of the day to watching for any flooding from start to finish. Traffic was a huge nightmare, starting with the incident along California State Routes (Highways) 9, 17, and 152 that caused major mudslides that closed the highway in both direction for days. Santa Cruz area drivers had a much harder time getting home from Silicon Valley. Even going through Gilroy was tough, down U.S. Route (Highway) 101 near the Uvas Creek south of the Monterey Street exit, where the road was flooded at times. One probable cause of the rain in my view was the Sobranes fire that burned in Monterey County for a couple of months sparked by an apparent arson over the summer of 2016. But the rain kept pummeling at Santa Clara County, especially in Gilroy, San Martin, and Morgan Hill. Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) crews were very concerned about the Anderson Dam that was supposed to go up to a maximum of 68% in capacity for seismic safety, but was well over the limit even prior to the spillover. 

Throughout the day, I surveyed the water damage caused by the spillover of Anderson Dam to the streets of downtown San Jose over the course of two days. The first day that the rushing waters gushed over, I was surveying areas from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's substation on Monterey Road and Metcalf Road to the Coyote Creek along Tully Road. Next, I went to Hellyer Park where part of the park was closed due to flooding and debris in the area, with several reports of contamination throughout the area. The portion of Coyote Creek along Tully Road that I shot for the Fresco app eventually made airwaves on The Weather Channel's digital platform, where they showcased a portion of the overflowing Coyote Creek shot for the Fresco News app. And just before the sky got dark, I managed to get to the area on Senter Road and Phelan Avenue, where I observed flooding. News crews went live wall-to-wall all night in that area and into the wee hours of the morning. 

The next morning, I tweeted out a heads-up to the San Jose Earthquakes' president (and now also Oakland A's president) Dave Kaval, where I showed him images of the flooding and warned him about concerns that he could have trouble getting to his office at Avaya Stadium from his home on the Peninsula. I was particularly worried that some backups could occur on highway 101 and eventually delay him by at least 30 minutes, where the roadway was shut down between McKee Road and Oakland Road exits since the Coyote Creek does run under highway 101, but 101 itself runs under the railroad tracks immediately south. Similarly, I was also concerned that the San Jose Earthquakes' staff would not make it to Avaya Stadium as scheduled. My simple tweet to Kaval have led him and the San Jose Earthquakes to set up a fund to those affected by the flooding along Coyote Creek just less than 2 hours later. Kaval apparently discussed about the flood to the San Jose Earthquakes' staff, and eventually the Oakland A's as well. The Earthquakes also had a special incentive to flood victims - that is to take them to the preseason opener against Sacramento Republic FC. The San Jose Sharks and the San Francisco 49ers also pitched in to help as well, but that only came after the Earthquakes made the call to help flood victims after my initial review of the Twitter feed.

Sharing with @DaveKaval if he tries to get to #Quakes74 on Coleman Ave this AM… Too many closures in SJ to list as I took those pics… pic.twitter.com/qumTAZ5k84

— Kyle Chak (@KyleSChak) February 22, 2017

The rest of the day that I observed included crews helping to clear downed power lines and repair them throughout downtown San Jose as there were no access to electricity to residents in the area for days. Shelter was set up at two local San Jose high schools - one of which I was at Evergreen High School that night of which I only saw at least 20 evacuees there.

San Jose certainly has a lot of things to do during the time that the cleanup is in progress. But the finger pointing is still ongoing to see who is ultimately responsible for the cleanup. San Jose certainly took the blame in terms of notification to residents. However, Anderson Reservoir is located in Morgan Hill along the same creek that serves the Coyote Reservoir as well. Even then, the Coyote Reservoir is also concerning to me because that reservoir is already in full capacity at the time and in the same situation as Anderson Reservoir but to a lesser extent.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District has a lot of work to do in regards to the water levels at Anderson Reservoir and the concerns for a major earthquake. But the sports teams based in Silicon Valley, particularly the San Jose Earthquakes, deserves a lot of credit for their efforts to help flood victims along the Coyote Creek. However, I was very stunned by the overwhelming evidence of the floods along Coyote Creek.

Original Work: Kyle Chak

E-mail: chak595301@gmail.com

Twitter: @KyleSChak