[Damages at Washington Park caused by the wind. Photo credit:Sojin Kim]

The Bay Area, a drought-danger area for the past ten years, experienced heavy rain and wind starting November 2023. 

According to the U.S. drought monitor, there was more rain in the five months (from November to March) than in 2022 (from January to December). 

Although heavy rain seems like the key solution for solving the drought problems, this rainy season led to many negative effects on the communities. 

The main inconvenience was caused by the power outages. 

Depending on the area, the outage lasted for one to four days. 

A few residents unexpectedly experienced a power outage at their homes, and they had to go to the nearby hotels to spend the night. 

Adding on, many restaurants and stores had to close temporarily due to the power outages. 

Fences and trash cans from the neighborhoods broke and flew away. 

Schools were also one of the primary areas that received damage. 

Almost all of the schools in the Bay Area had no power. 

Except for around 1-2 schools, all the schools under Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Fremont Union High School District had a power outage. 

Some of the schools closed due to the power outage, but the rest of the schools didn’t close. 

The schools that didn’t have power couldn’t complete their regular classes.

For instance, Sunnyvale Middle School was one of the schools that experienced a power outage. 

Sunnyvale Middle School had no power, leading to the bell system not working. 

The teachers used their phone alarms and even drummed to substitute for the bell system. 

None of the classrooms could turn on their lights, so the classes were held either outside or in the dark. 

Although the district did provide a few lamps for the classes, most of the classes weren’t able to receive any. 

The public areas and roads also experienced severe damage from the power outage. 

Washington Park, for example, had trees, such as the redwood trees breaking due to the wind. 

Some other trees and branches broke, which blocked the roads and the sidewalks. 

The street traffic lights fell off due to the strong wind and rain. 

Even the traffic lights that didn’t fall off didn’t work properly, which led to traffic jams. 

Some signs on the roads or public areas either fell off, broke, or flew away. 

Although the rain solved the drought problems, it did seriously damage the Bay Area. 

By around March 17th, the area was getting its powers back, fixing the broken signs, and cleaning up the trees and branches. 

The cities are providing new trash cans to replace the broken ones and cleaning up the trees and branches. 

In conclusion, California got a lot of rain, resulting in both positive and negative effects. 

The positive effects were that California got a lot of rain to solve the drought problem. 

However, the Bay Area community and its residents had to endure prolonged hardships and are only now beginning to make a gradual recovery.