How SLO is preparing for storms after 2023 floods

San Luis Obispo underwent a 25 year storm this past winter in January and March of 2023. These were two federally declared disaster level storms causing damage in over 200 areas throughout the city.

Supervising civil engineer for the city Wyatt Banker-hix has been working to repair
many of those areas before storm season begins.

“A lot of those areas were fairly simple,” Banker-hix said. “And so now we’re down to
about 15 larger projects that require a little more engineering and construction expertise.”

The city held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly finished San Luis Drive
project to repair a wall that was eroding from the storm.

San Luis Drive road contains a bridge that is the only way in and around for about 140 homes.

Repairing this wall should ensure it stays strong for the upcoming storm and lasts for the next 100 years.

Many Cal Poly students had their college homes flood and are worried this could happen again.

Mechanical engineering senior Jake Brown experienced this storm firsthand. Brown’s room completely flooded ruining most of his furniture and his laptop.

“I’m really nervous because, like, if the rain is that bad again, I don’t think there’s much I can do,” Brown said. “I’m just trying not to stress about it, so I don’t know. Getting my belongings off the ground once it starts raining is probably the first thing I do.”

He is among the many students who are thinking about how to prepare to prevent
damage when the storms hit again.

More information can be found here on how these storms affected other Cal Poly students.