State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

The Key to San Jose's Speedy Disaster Recovery: Garbage

Governing: This winter was the rainiest in Northern California in two decades. For San Jose, that hit home in late February, when a raging waterfall spilled over the nearby Anderson Dam. As the water gushed into Coyote Creek, it rose over its banks and flooded several city neighborhoods. The Coyote Creek flood, which impacted mostly immigrant and densely populated communities, ultimately prompted the largest evacuation in the city’s history.

But as the floodwaters receded, residents returned to find staff from the San Jose Environmental Services Department ready to help them assess the damage to their homes and clean up. Environmental departments do a lot of planning to make their cities more resilient to global warming and natural disasters. Their efforts have made cities, according to the authors of the 2014 National Climate Assessment, the “early responders to climate change challenges and opportunities.” But environmental departments have long been early responders to natural disasters; they’re often among the first on the ground in the aftermath of floods, tornadoes, fires, hurricanes and other events.

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