A large January sewage spill at San Francisco’s main public library that was caused by someone who flushed “foreign objects” down a fourth-floor toilet led to $550,000 in damages.

The spill happened Jan. 20, when a sewer overflow that started on the fourth floor of the Larkin Street library across from Civic Center Plaza spread to the stories below, affecting all three of the first floors in the building’s northwest corner. 

Library staff said the spill contaminated just about everything in the spaces it spread to, with ceilings, ductwork, painted surfaces, insulation, cubicles and floor coverings all being damaged. The library’s Talking Books and Braille Center, Audio-Visual Room and Genre Room were all impacted by the spill, according to the city. 

Jaime Wong, a San Francisco Public Library spokesperson, could not say for sure exactly what kind of “foreign objects” clogged the toilet in question and led to the spill. 

“It might have been some fabric,” Wong said. “It got pretty mangled.”

Wong said toilet blockages in the library have caused spills before, but this appeared to be the first time that one on the fourth floor had caused such extensive damage.

The overwhelming majority of the bill will be paid by insurers, according to city officials. San Francisco is only on the hook for a $10,000 deductible that will be paid from its Library Preservation Fund. 

Cleanup of the spill began the day it happened and was completed Feb. 9, according to the city. Repair work started several days later and most of it has been completed, though some damaged flooring and cubicles still need to be replaced. The city hired a contractor, Belfor Property Restoration, to handle the cleanup and repairs.

The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday approved the repairs, which required an emergency declaration from the Public Works director. The full board is likely to sign off on the matter next week.

Reach J.D. Morris: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @thejdmorris

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As most of the recent showers pull out of the Bay Area Thursday night, the region is taking a bit of a pause before the next in a series of atmospheric flows hits.

Thousands of people in the Bay Area were still without power as of Friday, and many others were rushing to clean up damage caused by recent flooding and wind.

At the Pink Onion restaurant on 14th Street off Harrison Street in San Francisco, the long-awaited rain break means all hands are on deck, floors are mopped and furniture is dried out.

Meteorologist Kari Hall follows the next storm for the weekend and its effects in the microclimate forecast.

“It’s a race against time,” said Pink Onion contributor Gabriel McCaffrey.

McCaffrey explained that on New Year’s Eve, the restaurant quickly flooded with two feet of water. He said staff quickly stepped in to respond, but the restaurant was still left with broken refrigerators, spoiled food and damaged plumbing. Further rains in the following days didn’t exactly help.

“Because we’re a small business, it’s difficult,” McCaffrey said, noting that the cost of closing the restaurant since New Year’s Eve has been a challenge. The hope is that there will be no rain in this fast lap Pink Onion will be able to reopen for business on Friday due to cleaning work.

“We’re just praying the weather eases up a bit for this whole block,” McCaffrey said, noting that other businesses on 14th Street were also struggling with flooding.

Many other Bay Area residents, businesses, and utilities also ran to repairs Thursday.

In San Francisco, the Public Works Department had employees cleaning up trees that had fallen on 500-foot MUNI lines at Junipero Serra and Sloat.

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Rachel Gordon of @sfpublicworks tells us 500ft of MUNI lines fell when the trees fell. Buses are currently being diverted at Junipero Serra & Sloat in the W. Portal area. @nbcbayarea

— Christine Ni Nijuni (@christineniSF) January 5, 2023

PG&E said it was just deck work for their crews too.

At 10:30 p.m. Thursday, PG&E announced that power outages affected 21,173 customers across the San Francisco Bay Area. Power was restored to tens of thousands of customers throughout the day. The utility reported 80,448 outages across the region as of 4:45 a.m

PG&E spokeswoman Mayra Tostado said the rain break has helped crews restore power more quickly and safely. She explained that the utility currently has more than 3,000 people on site restoring power and repairing damage, including some out-of-town workers from Southern California and Canada. Overall, Tostado said, this storm powered more than 500,000 customers, including 200,000 in the Bay Area.

With most of the recent rain showers drifting out of the Bay Area on Thursday night, San Francisco residents are having a little pause while they clean up before the next in a series of atmospheric flows hits the region. Alyssa Goard reports.

Tostado said one challenge in restoring power had been fallen trees, mudslides and saturated soil, all of which made it difficult for teams to work.

“In some cases, our teams were out restoring power and putting up new poles, and trees fell around them, so we had to pull them out because they’re not safe in those places,” she added.

While drier skies are benefiting PG&E repairs for now, Tostado acknowledged expected storms into next week could potentially keep some customers without power for longer.

“Some customers may experience outages that last longer than 48 hours. In those cases, they’ll receive a credit on their bill,” Tostado said, adding that customers with additional claims for PG&E are encouraged to submit them online for review on a case-by-case basis.

Local officials are advising Bay Area residents to use this lull between storms to gather supplies and prepare for the next gust of wind and rain.

After the San Francisco Public Works ran out of much-demanded free sandbags on Wednesday, the sandbags were back on sale Thursday. Residents can take five sandbags per address. These sandbags are available at the Marin Street and Kansas Street gate while supplies last.

Pallets of sandbags are available for pickup at the San Francisco Public Works Yard at Kansas Street and Marin Street. January 5, 2023. NBC Bay Area Photo/ Alyssa Goard.

The National Weather Service expects the next atmospheric flow to arrive in the Bay Area late Friday and flooding and other local effects will continue through Tuesday.

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Here are the latest key messages that highlight the series of atmospheric fluxes that will continue to have significant impacts on California over the next week. Significant flooding and dangerous mountain driving will recur Saturday over northern and central California and continue into Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/zC62ajyoR7

– NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 5, 2023

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San Francisco residents, property owners and businesses that were badly impacted from January’s series of winter storms may be eligible for financial relief, Mayor London Breed announced on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year, San Francisco has been hit by a series of storms that prompted flooding, mudslides and power outages.

“The severe weather we just experienced has impacted many of our small businesses and residents in heavily affected areas and these initial efforts will help as part of our City’s recovery,” said Breed. “While these flood relief programs will provide support in the storms’ aftermath, we are hard at work making improvements to our infrastructure as part of a $632 million investment to help reduce the risk of flooding in the future.”

Small Business Grants

Via the city’s Flood Disaster Relief Grant program, small businesses in the city’s “flood zone” — the regions most likely to experience severe flooding in a 100-year storm — are eligible for up to $5,000 in awards, and small businesses outside of the zone can receive up to $2,000.

The San Francisco Office of Small Business will lead the effort, prioritizing businesses in the flood zone that face the most severe damage.

Grants are available for registered San Francisco businesses with a physical location that have experienced physical damage from winter storms, retroactive up to Dec. 27, 2022. Damages due to wind or power outages are not eligible.

Permitted and licensed home-based businesses, like daycares, are also eligible.

Businesses must have 100 or fewer employees and less than $5 million in gross revenue.

“We know that the recent storms have added additional difficulties to small businesses that have already been trying to recover from pandemic impacts,” said Katy Tang, executive director of the Office of Small Business. “While we recognize that this grant program will not solve all challenges, the City is offering support along with other resources and services currently available to businesses.”

A detailed map of areas determined the most at risk of flooding can be found at https://sfplanninggis.org/floodmap/.

Applications are open on Friday and close on Feb. 10. More information on the application process can be found at https://sf.gov/get-help-if-your-business-was-damaged-flooding.

The San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts also plans to create a collaborative storm relief fund for San Francisco artists and art organizations. More details will be shared on the agency’s website once details are finalized.

Property Damage Relief

For those facing property damage, the city recommends residents and businesses to contact their insurance company to assess damages and purchase flood insurance.

Businesses and homeowners can also apply for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Floodwater Management Grant Assistance Program, which can provide over $100,000 in flood mitigation improvements on properties.

Tax Relief Opportunities

San Francisco property owners may also be eligible for property tax relief if they suffered over $10,000 in flood damage. A disaster relief form must be submitted to the Assessor-Recorder by one year of the date of loss.

“We know that these recent storms are unlike anything our city has seen in decades and have caused significant hardship for many property owners. Given the impacts of this severe weather, the Office of the Assessor-Recorder wants all San Franciscans to be aware they may qualify for property tax relief and that our staff is available to help walk them through the process from start to end,” said Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres.

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CLEARLAKE, Lake County (CBS SF / BCN) -Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Lake County Tuesday in support of the response to the Cache Fire, which has caused major damage to homes and other buildings since it began three weeks ago.

According to a press release from the Newsom office on Tuesday, the “proclamation will help expedite the removal of the resulting dangerous debris and ash and streamline other public services for fire victims.”

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Newsom had previously declared a state of emergency in several counties affected by the Caldor Fire, McFarland and Monument fires, antelope and river fires, Dixie, Fly and Tamarack fires, as well as the Lava Fire and Beckwourth Complex Fire.

The Cache Fire began on August 18 and burned 83 acres in the 6th Avenue and Cache St. area. Dozens of houses and outbuildings were destroyed and hundreds were evacuated. Many of the homes destroyed were in Creekside Mobile Home Park and Cache Creek Mobile Home Estates.

A Lake County police officer assesses damage to a burned property after the cache fire ripped through the area on August 19, 2021 in Clearlake, California. (JOSH EDELSON / AFP via Getty Images)

No deaths were reported, but at least one person was burned.

Clearlake officials said they did not expect the governor’s declaration of emergency and welcomed the state and federal aid that is being raised to help the community with the millions of dollars needed for restoration costs.

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“I can not believe it! Our indications since the night of the fire have been that there would be no state or federal statement for failing to meet the thresholds, ”city manager Alan Flora told Lake County News.

“We recently learned that we were going to get government assistance with the cleanup, but it was unlikely that anything else would,” Flora told Lake County News. “We are very pleased that additional resources are now available for those whose lives were destroyed by the cache fire. It took a lot of lobbying to represent our case. “

Lake County has been hit by several devastating forest fires in recent years. Middletown was the site of the 2015 Valley Fire, which killed five people. Lower Lake, that was the scene of the Clayton Fire. There was also the Jerusalem, Rocky, and Pawnee fires, off the River & Ranch Fires that made up the Mendocino Complex, the largest fire in the state’s history at the time.

According to one estimate, 60 percent of the district has burned down since 2012.

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© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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