Though the storm is setting in, some Central Coast residents are taking last-minute precautions.
Noreen Martin is a San Luis Obispo resident who spent her morning enjoying the rain.
“Oh my gosh, this is kind of fun,” Martin said. “It doesn't rain that often.”
She said she started preparing for the storm before the clouds rolled in by checking her home for hazards inside and out.
“We were making sure we didn't have any runoff that was going to go in the wrong places,” Martin said. “So we made sure we had bags out, etc..”
During this storm, sandbags have been one of the most popular items residents are buying. Ray Rodriguez is a Miner’s Ace Hardware employee. He said it’s pretty common for people to come buy supplies at the last minute.
“Nobody prepares,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll usually go through pallets of sandbags. We'll sell a lot of empty sandbags and poly bags.”
Rodriguez said the store gets ready for people who are caught unprepared by ordering more rainy-day items like boots, tarps, and various types of sandbags. He said they sold over 60 sandbags on Friday alone — and they’re expecting more to be sold.
“Corporate, they’ll check the forecast, and usually when they checked forecast,” Rodriguez said. “We will prepare ahead of time and getting pallets of sandbags.”
There are multiple locations to fill sandbags across the central coast. For locations in San Luis Obispo County, the Office of Emergency Services compiled a list.
