Ariel Kelley, Healdsburg City Councilmember

[Español abajo] Sonoma County friends - An atmospheric river is heading our way. Heavy rain and strong winds will start this afternoon and heaviest will be tonight. We are NOT expecting Foss Creek or the Russian River to flood but some roads in Sonoma County may flood - DO NOT attempt to cross flooded roadways. Today at 3pm and tonight, you may receive a SoCo Advisory message about flooding and debris risk near the Walbridge Fire areas. If you are near a burn scar, you shoul...d consider your risk based on topography. While Sonoma County has NOT issued an evacuation warning for Mill Creek and other Walbridge Fire areas, we are seeing evacuation warnings in Santa Cruz and other areas that experienced similar fires this past September. If you haven't yet signed up for the county's SoCo Alerts, what are you waiting for!? https://socoemergency.org/get-ready/sign-up/ - Amigos del condado de Sonoma: un río atmosférico se dirige hacia nosotros. Lluvias y vientos fuertes comenzarán esta tarde y los más fuertes serán esta noche. NO esperamos que Foss Creek o el río Russian se inunden, pero algunas carreteras en el condado de Sonoma pueden inundarse; NO intente cruzar las carreteras inundadas. Hoy a las 3 pm y esta noche, es posible que reciba un mensaje de aviso de SoCo sobre el riesgo de inundaciones y escombros cerca de las áreas de Walbridge Fire. Si está cerca de una cicatriz de quemadura, debe considerar su riesgo según la topografía. Si bien el condado de Sonoma NO ha emitido una advertencia de evacuación para Mill Creek y otras áreas de incendio de Walbridge, estamos viendo advertencias de evacuación en Santa Cruz y otras áreas que experimentaron incendios similares en septiembre pasado. Si aún no se ha inscrito en las alertas de SoCo del condado, ¿a qué está esperando? https://socoemergency.org/get-ready/sign-up/

A massive rain storm is expected to arrive Tuesday and will continue on through Thursday with flash flood warnings in our area. Folks in Mill Creek and near burn scars, please be vigilant for debris, landslides and flash floods. High winds could cause downed tree limbs or power outages. Please be prepared and do not attempt to drive through flooded roadways.

COVID-19 Restriction Update for Healdsburg and Sonoma County The State of CA is seeing decreasing numbers of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and ICUs and promising projections for COVID-19 hospitalization in the coming weeks. Due to this decrease, all California counties will return back to the color coded tiers based off of local virus conditions. Sonoma County will return to the Purple Tier (the most restrictive tier). Outdoor dining, outdoor wine tasting rooms, hair salon...s & barbershops, bars, and more will be allowed to re-open immediately (see full list below.) Indoor dining will remain closed. Our restrictions and re-opening will now be governed and reported from the Sonoma County Health Officer and local statistics will determine our ability to re-open (as opposed to regional statistics.) We are back in the Purple Tier. The roadmap out of the Purple Tier relies on each of us to 1) wear a mask, 2) do not spend time indoors with those outside of our households and 3) wash our hands. Here are the new metrics to be tracking in order to go from the Purple Tier to Red Tier. Sonoma County’s new cases per day per 100,000 residents is 41.4. That number must drop below 7 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in order for the County to move into the red tier. The testing positivity rate was 9.6 percent and needs to be less than 8 percent to move to the red tier. And the testing positivity in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places Index, a metric that measures equity in the COVID response, was 15.9 percent and needs to be less than 8 percent to move to the red tier. Starting today - the following has changed. * Hair salons and barbershops open indoors with modifications * Personal care services open indoors with modification * Museums, zoos, and aquariums open outdoors only with modifications * Restaurants open outdoor only with modifications * Wineries open outdoor only with modifications * Bars, breweries, and distilleries where a meal is provided open outdoor only with modifications * Limited services open * Family entertainment centers open outdoor only * Retail stores (clothing, books, jewelry, etc.) may open at a maximum 25% capacity with modifications * Indoor shopping malls may open at a maximum 25% capacity Food courts and common areas remain closed * Grocery stores may open at a maximum 50% capacity with modifications For businesses looking for relief options including grants and loans, please visit http://sonomaedb.org/Busine/Coronavirus-Business-Resources/ The Healdsburg City Council will be looking at some solutions to support our local businesses in the upcoming weeks and I hope you are able to Zoom-in and provide us with your feedback on proposed solutions.

Feelings of optimism and hope for the future of America.

We are in a High Wind Advisory. There is a small fire in the Geysers, being called the #OldFire. 6 engines, 4 tenders and 3 crews were dispatched. There are downed power lines that need to be secured by PG&E. The fire is not currently threatening any structures and it is not in the path of the wind. Meaning, it has a low rate of spread and is not posing a threat to Healdsburg at this time. I’ll be posting updates but please consult official sources for information and text your zip code to 888-777 for updates. #sonomacounty #sonomastrong #Healdsburg