Environmental storytelling: Centering flood vulnerable communities in San Mateo County

PCJ in the Bay Fellow Stories: Noelle Villanueva

When I first toured the neighborhood of Belle Air in San Bruno, I thought it looked just like any other suburban neighborhood in the Bay. The streets were lined with mailboxes and parked cars, and neighbors were walking their dogs on the sidewalk. Lawns bordered their property, and porches wrapped around their front doors. 

But when I took a closer look, I spotted telltale signs of flooding. Most of these houses had elevated porches and front doors, but many of their garage doors had water damage. The residents of Belle Air were long used to winter floods and had taken steps to elevate their front doors and porches. Still, that didn’t stop flood waters from trapping their cars and seeping into their garages in October 2021, and again in December 2022.  

The Belle Air neighborhood of San Bruno lies in the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, which indicates that there is a high risk of flooding. Homeowners within this flood zone with a federally-backed mortgage are required to buy flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. 

Even though many of these residents have flood insurance, the psychological and financial stress that flooding places on these residents is high. Often, the flood insurance reimbursement process takes a long time and residents have to deal with wet, moldy garages and destroyed furniture. With the effects of climate change looming, this small San Bruno neighborhood is at a greater risk from the combined effects of sea level rise, storm surge, and flood. 

Through my work at OneShoreline this summer, I learned all about the vulnerable communities along the shoreline of San Mateo County, which is the county most at risk for the future effects of sea level rise in the Bay Area. My projects this summer focused on two such communities—Belle Air and Brisbane—and telling their stories. Through ArcGIS story maps, I guided readers through the devastating effects of flooding in Belle Air and the projects that OneShoreline is spearheading to address them. 

In Brisbane, I told a story of future potential and outlined how this community could be an example for nature-based flooding mitigation tactics through oyster reefs and eel grass beds. My work at OneShoreline delved deep into state and countywide sea level rise laws and adaptation measures, which I drew upon in my storytelling. It is imperative that residents of the Bay Area learn more about the risks that flooding and future sea level rise will wreak upon them, and even more important that we begin to address them today. 

The other interns and I were also part of a team to brainstorm the implementation of a microgrant project for Belle Air residents. The aim was to give them a small amount of money (about $1,000) to purchase flood adaptation measures such as modular flood barriers, dehumidifiers, and shelving to elevate items and appliances in the garage. I felt like I was doing something new, important, and deeply impactful for the community. 

Though we were only in the beginning stages of planning for this microgrant project, I learned so much about the needs of residents through data gathered from community outreach and listening sessions that OneShoreline had conducted. I learned that renters aren’t usually covered by traditional rental insurance, and were at greater risk of having to pay out of pocket for damages to their belongings. I also learned that OneShoreline was thinking out of the box and breaking the mold in order to help residents protect their own homes by giving them a way to invest in these measures. Though this project is still ongoing, I’m excited and grateful to have had the chance to learn from this experience. 

OneShoreline is a small but mighty team of five dedicated public servants. The impact they’ve been able to make so far is rooted in their concern for the people who are most affected by flooding. I am both proud and lucky to have worked for OneShoreline this summer and hope to carry the empathy and focus on listening and learning from these vulnerable communities with me as I embark on my own journey of public service. 

Noelle Villanueva is a graduating senior in the Program in Science, Technology & Society and a coterm in sustainability science and practice. As a Partnerships for Climate Justice in the Bay Area (PCJ in the Bay) Fellow, she interned with OneShoreline, creating GIS story maps to illustrate sea level rise and flooding in San Mateo County.