Corte Madera proclaims local emergency after king-tide floods; town seeks state aid for damaged facilities

Corte Madera’s Town Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Jan. 6 proclaiming a local emergency after king-tide flooding and associated storm impacts damaged the town’s corporation yard and flooded private properties.

Mayor Thomas and town staff told the council the proclamation will allow the town to transmit an initial damage estimate to the Office of Emergency Services and pursue potential state and federal reimbursement and coordination, though staff cautioned that any aid is not guaranteed. "Without doing it, we have no possibility of recouping any expenditures on this," town staff said during the meeting.

Residents from low-lying neighborhoods described homes and garages flooded when a berm behind properties along Harbor Drive and San Clemente Creek overtopped. Lauren Cosgrave, who lives at 23 Harbor Drive, said the overtopping was "a visible, repeatable overflow of a known structure" and asked the town to commission or share a professional engineering evaluation, identify responsibility for preventing future overtopping, and provide a timeline for a long-term mitigation solution.

Several residents urged better short-term communications and more sandbag availability. Town staff reported that approximately "30 to 35 tons of sand" were delivered and "well over 1,200 sandbags" were deployed to stations across town during the event, and that the corporation yard would likely be out of service for several weeks while contractors assess and remediate hazardous-materials contamination.

Council and staff discussed what a proclamation covers. Town attorney Amy Ackerman explained that the council must ratify a proclamation every 60 days until terminated and that governmental assistance typically does not cover private property losses; aid generally applies to town-owned assets and only after insurance pays its portion. Public works staff said some berms appear to be on private property and that the town lacks permanent easements to maintain them.

Town staff said they will collect photographs and damage reports from residents through a dedicated email and form to build the damage estimate. The council voted to adopt Resolution O12026, enabling the town to move forward with OEM coordination and potential reimbursement for town infrastructure and response costs.

The council also scheduled follow-up discussions and neighborhood meetings to review response actions and long-term planning for flood protection.