This fall has given Ventura County a preview of both ends of our weather. Red flag warnings and Santa Ana wind events moved through the region in mid-October, with the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles/Oxnard office issuing repeated warnings and utilities cutting power to thousands of customers as a precaution. At the same time, Ventura County’s Office of Emergency Services has been telling residents to get ready for a stormier winter than usual, tied to a strong El Niño pattern taking shape in the Pacific.
Wind now, rain later, with not much calm in between. Here’s a practical rundown of what’s worth doing around the house for each.
Wind season still has some run left
Santa Ana wind events typically continue into late fall and early winter here, so it’s worth finishing this pass before you shift your attention to rain. Walk the roofline and trim back any dead branches or overgrown vegetation that could snap and land on the house or the power line running to it. Clear leaves and debris off the roof and out of the gutters, which helps on the wind side and sets you up for the rain side at the same time. Bring in or tie down anything on a patio, balcony, or yard that could become airborne in a gust, and take a look at your eaves and attic vents for any gaps where embers could get pulled in during a nearby fire.
The county is already planning for a wetter winter
County officials briefed the Board of Supervisors on winter readiness in early October, and the message was straightforward: prepare now rather than when the first storm is already on the radar. That guidance matters most for homes in or below recent burn areas, where even a short burst of intense rain can trigger a debris flow with very little warning. It’s also worth a second look if your property sits in a low-lying area or near the coast, since flooding and high surf tend to show up together when a storm lines up with a high tide.
Ventura County’s emergency services site, ready.venturacounty.gov, has current flood maps, sandbag information, and a sign-up for VC Alert, the county’s emergency notification system. If you haven’t looked at either in a while, this is a reasonable week to do it, before the first real storm rather than during one.
A few things worth doing before the first real storm
A handful of tasks cover most of the risk, and none of them require more than an afternoon:
- Clear gutters and downspouts, and make sure downspouts point water away from the foundation, not toward it.
- Walk the roof, or have someone qualified do it, and look for loose, cracked, or lifted tiles or shingles while it’s still dry and easy to fix.
- Check the grading around your house. Water should run away from the foundation; if it’s pooling against a wall after a garden hose test, that’s worth addressing now.
- If you’re near or below a recent burn scar, review the county’s flood and debris flow maps and know your evacuation route before you need it.
- Have your heating system and any fireplace or wall furnace serviced or inspected if it’s gone unused since last winter.
Worth doing now, not during the first storm
None of this is complicated, but it’s the kind of thing that’s much easier to handle on a calm, dry Saturday than during an actual Santa Ana event or the county’s first real storm of the season. A little attention now, while the weather is giving us a break, goes a long way toward making the next few months less stressful.
Doug Miller, RE/MAX Gold Coast, Remedios Team | (661) 607-7500
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