23ABC checked in with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office to see if extra precautions are being taken by local deputies due to weather.
We received the following comments from the substations:
East area:
"Currently Kern Valley and Ridgecrest are operating as normal. We are monitoring the normal flood areas, but to date there are no new reports. We are looking at another storm front this coming weekend."
South area:
"As the weather conditions change and heavy rain is forecasted for the mountain areas surrounding Kern County, patrol operations in the South Area Substation Section will be effected.
Additional resources are brought in to assist with the flooding conditions. Extra staffing and other resources such as SAR (Search and Rescue), CSU (Citizen Volunteers), and the coordination with fire and CHP for possible evacuations and numerous road closures. This as you might suspect, effects the normal operations of Lamont and Frazier Park substations.
Also, having to transition from the normal patrol vehicle to 4x4 vehicles and the depletion of staffing to answer regular calls for service, which will often be extended in response times. These are just some of the hurdles we encounter during bad weather in this area."
The north area reported their operations have not been affected by weather conditions so far.
