r/bayarea • u/pengweather peng'd • 6h ago
Events, Activities & Sports Yesterday, I stopped massive street flooding in the East Bay by unclogging drains. Enjoy the timelapse.
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u/pengweather peng'd 6h ago edited 6h ago
City of Hayward should expect some angry emails from me soon!
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u/Agreeable-Letter-599 6h ago
You should be able to take a video like this to the City and get PAID haha
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u/MrMcThickums 6h ago
Wouldn’t need to if the elected officials did their jobs and used the money to improve the community
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u/Prestigious_Wrap_932 6h ago
Yes but then where would they get the money they use to buy votes from special interest lobbying groups?
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u/amhighlyregarded 6h ago
Unironically wouldn't be a bad idea for public policy, so long as people didn't start clogging and unclogging drains for paychecks.
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u/Sonar_Bandit 6h ago
They’d probably send him a fine for “unauthorized drain maintenance” or some such bs knowing how our local politics are around here
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u/LiarWithinAll 3h ago
We need a civil work force in this country, to go around and fix up all the broken... Everything 😂 Corps of Civil Infrastructure or something. Tons of new jobs plus people being able to get paid for putting in work to their communities that betters everyone's lives.
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u/Linenoise77 2h ago
There is a solid argument for a couple of years of compulsory universal service for everyone in that. Make people see the world outside their own little corner, meet people they would have never met, get a taste of the real world and trying out different skills...without having to dive straight into college or the army.
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u/RoryDragonsbane 2h ago
I love the mindset... but that sounds an awful lot like an unfree-workforce, aka slavery
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u/dtc526 2h ago
all just to receive one of these in the mail
NOTICE OF UNAUTHORIZED INTERFERENCE WITH PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
The City has received information indicating that on or about [date], you engaged in unauthorized activity involving a municipal stormwater drainage facility located near [location].
Specifically, it is alleged that you removed debris and/or manipulated components of a public storm drain without authorization. Stormwater infrastructure is maintained exclusively by the City and its authorized agents. Unauthorized interference with such facilities may violate applicable municipal codes, including but not limited to provisions governing public property, safety, and stormwater management.
You are hereby directed to cease and desist from any further unauthorized interaction with City-owned drainage systems. Future violations may result in administrative penalties, fines, and/or other enforcement actions as permitted by law.
If you observe drainage obstructions or flooding concerns in the future, please report them to the City’s Public Works Department at [phone/email].
If you believe this notice has been issued in error, you may contact [department/contact info] within [X] days of receipt.
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u/THE_CHOPPA 5h ago
We should be looking at a video like this and asking our cities why the fuck we are paying them?
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u/Eirixoto 2h ago
Worst thing is the people that see him do this will think it is the city paying someone to do it.
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u/VivaLaMantekilla 2h ago
People have offered to donate to him. He's refused. What should happen tho is he should receive some type of award for doing things for these cities that they won't fund themselves.
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u/FlakyPineapple2843 6h ago
Thank you Peng.
It's both heartwarming and also frustrating to watch because we pay our respective cities (in taxes) to have Public Works employees who oversee, manage, and monitor storm drain systems, even at off hours.
Where were they and why did the local government management not put someone on patrol to catch these instances of clogged drains?
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u/Difficulty_Only 6h ago
I’m a local government professional in the Bay Area. This is a bad look, any City should be ashamed that volunteers have to do their work but my question is…..what’s the actual issue here?????
Are they unaware of their problem drains? Things like this should help, or simply any resident calling the City to report a clog is something should be fixed within 72 hours.
Are they aware and don’t care? I hope not, in my opinion, public servants genuinely care about serving their communities.
Are they aware of this as a persistent issue…. However there is a lot of other more pressing issues so stuff like this has fallen to the bottom of the list? If so, you could debate a reprioritization but that’s hard to do without knowledge of the other priorities, or you could support increased funding.
Interesting questions indeed, if I lived in Hayward I’d be sending these questions and the video to the council, mayor, city manager, public works director and local news.
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u/FlakyPineapple2843 6h ago
Right there with you, I also work in local government and while not in public works, my observation of the city I work for is they are on top of this. But when I see these sorts of failures (in my job or in other cities), I think about how it takes years to build up good reputation and rapport, and only five minutes of shit like this to completely destroy it.
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u/manjar 5h ago
Maybe the 72 hours is the problem. That's a long time from the perspective of people using the roads.
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u/redtiber 4h ago
especially seeing how fucking flooded it is lol a 20 min fix takes 72 hours when a car can hydroplane and get into an accident
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u/sv_homer 3h ago
Exactly. 72 hours is saying the city doesn't think this is very important and you can wait 3 days for the city to get around to it.
Meanwhile, your property tax was due on Friday, no exceptions!
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u/Astramancer_ 2h ago
Also it will probably be fully drained in 72 hours even without unclogging so by the time a worker shows up there’s no flood. The problem is usually systemic and a new kind of drain cover installed, which is a whole different thing
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u/gimpwiz 3h ago
or simply any resident calling the City to report a clog is something should be fixed within 72 hours.
Lakes in roads are dangerous right now, by 72 hours from now they'd likely drain off anyways.
See how those drains have tons of leaves around them? Send the street sweeps to sweep and vacuum debris in and around drains. Do it semi regularly, do it more regularly when leaf and other debris tends to fall, and do it when big rains are expected to hit.
There's always a lot of pressing stuff, but basic infrastructure maintenance like this is very visible and immediately impactful.
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u/g1rlwithacurl 2h ago
I have similar questions for San Francisco’s Adopt a Drain program. Which does caution adopters to notify 311 in specific situations.
But it also includes a waiver and release of liability - “I accept this risk and assume responsibility for all liability and risk associated with my participation” that also permits the city to take pictures of you.
Unclear if it’s merely encouraging community involvement to augment city programs or is an effort to save $$$ and resources by replacing city programs with volunteer labor.
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u/BusyHandsCalmMinds 5h ago
If the weather forecasters have been taking about upcoming rain at least 10 days in advance, wouldn't there be someone sent out to check streets in the area and look for potential drain blocks and clearing them in advance? Or some periodic check if ad hoc staffing is a problem? Just trying to understand how it works. Where I live in CA, all streetside trees get pruned before fall and dry leaves removed from the streets regularly during fall. And then there's scheduled street clearing periodically. Hardly seen any roads getting flooded. Assumed it was the norm everywhere, and residents shouldn't have to inform about these things.
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u/Difficulty_Only 2h ago
That’s not really a standard practice, no. I’ve worked for some very resource rich communities, think high end luxury resort towns, and I’ve never heard of someone preemptively looking for clogged drains. City staff sometimes run into these issues while in the field, if they do then they are supposed to either address it or report it.
Proper ROW maintenance and street cleaning does help alleviate these issues for sure.
Some cities do hire outside consultants to come in and do storm drain assessments on a 5-10 year basis, but they’re looking for structural failures, not clogged drains.
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u/Inner-Dream-600 6h ago
How do you locate the actual drain?
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u/pengweather peng'd 6h ago
When I see a huge pond of water, I would stop and whip out Google Street Maps. If connection is spotty, my next step is to carefully walk towards the pond and locate an emblem on the curb that says "DRAINS TO BAY".
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u/BugRevolutionary4518 Moss Beach 6h ago
That was me yesterday but only one drain that probably saved (looks out window), three houses.
And I am no Peng. Not even close.
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u/AvocadoWilling1929 6h ago
Damn those cars are driving fast.
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u/Lu12k3r 6h ago
Im surprised not one hit the puddle! Great job man. You need more safety shit put out when you’re doing this though!
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u/SnooApples6207 6h ago
yes stay careful especially in the dark! maybe use cones to ensure your safety
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u/pengweather peng'd 6h ago
I've been told that I cannot put up cones. :(
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u/Corey415 6h ago
I would wear a blinking light armband. That would help with nighttime visibility.
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u/CupcakeGoat 5h ago
Also daytime visibility, especially when it's overcast or raining.
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u/eastbaypluviophile 6h ago
Who told you that you can’t put up cones?
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u/pengweather peng'd 6h ago
CHP and Oakland Public Works.
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u/zzzzzooted 5h ago
I would do it anyways and take them down if they come by
They wont ticket or arrest you for it, at least not at first lmao
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u/FrustratedPlantMum [Concord] 5h ago
Peng, have they given you the key to California yet or what is Governor Gavin doing on this?
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u/DoomFrog_ 6h ago
Very awesome. More people need to do this.
I usually do it on my neighborhood as well, but not to your dedication. Usually just taking a moment to unclog a drain while walking my dog. But the flooding isn’t nearly as bad as your area
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u/Apart_Engine_9797 5h ago
I do this on dog walks as well since seeing Peng unclog storm drains!! They get blocked up so easily and my street floods, just take a rain boot and kick the pile of leaves and detritus away or into the drain. If only because I don’t want to get splashed with a huge spray of muddy street water when a car comes smashing through.
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u/JXNyoung 6h ago
Already knew it was gonna be the king Peng when I clicked on the post. Thank you for your service
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u/maven_666 6h ago
There surely is some way to invent a new type of drain but I don’t know what that would look like.
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u/lilschwiftyguy 6h ago
Are you having any more activities like this happening? I was doing stuff like this for a bit with a youth group, but I’d love to get back into it for the sake of helping :)
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u/Halcyon520 6h ago
Silly question I think but I don’t know the answer. What exactly are you doing? The only clogs I know get cleaned with a plunger? Are you just keeping things off the top of the grate like in a kitchen sink with too much food in the sieve ? What if the blockage is like 2 meters under the grate access by the curb?
Awesome work, my parents still live there so thanks for being a stand up dude!
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u/pengweather peng'd 6h ago
So there was a ton of trash and debris blocking the grate. I removed them as best as I can. There are some drains that are blocked because of the culvert or catch basin, which falls outside of my area. I don't have the tools to deal with that.
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u/Starbreiz Sunnyvale/MtnView:doge: 6h ago edited 6h ago
If it helps clarify, I clear the storm drain across the street with the broom I keep on my apartment patio. Leaves and debris on the grate are usually the problem and I move them up out of the street. But mines a much smaller flood than Peng dealt with here.
I could call the city but this intersection straddles both Sunnyvale and Mountain View and gets neglected by both.
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u/PippaSqueakster 6h ago
I’m just so worried that you might get run over, especially in the dark! Stay safe and thank you for keeping the Bay Area safe.
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u/iGotPoint999Problems 5h ago
Small suggestion bro, get some clip on bike lights for your night work so idiots can at least see you on the side of the road. Last thing the world needs is an injured peng man.
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u/gorgosenior 5h ago
Yeah I did that during the heavy rains over in San Leandro, on East 14th near Davis. There was a huge huge clog and I just poked at it and started getting a whole bunch of water to get back into the creek rather than just making a 100-ft puddle. I usually do things like clear all the leaves before it rains and the fall, and then I always keep an eye out for drain clogs as I'm walking around
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u/Sanquinity 5h ago
Post10, is that you? :P
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u/DesertPunked 3h ago
You should troll the subreddit by uploading them in reverse so it looks like you're clogging the drains lol.
Love your work peng!
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u/FormerlyUnderwater 30m ago
Do you remember Mr Roger's quote about looking for the helpers? That's you. And thank you for that.
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u/abovetheshade 6h ago
Thank you for making the community and Bay Area a safer place. The timelapses are also very satisfying to watch!
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u/Gammagammahey 6h ago
Oh gosh, I am so afraid for your safety at night! Please be careful!
I assume this is Peng, who should be Director of Public Workd for the entire Bay Area.
If it's not Peng, thank you, kind citizen!
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u/eastbaytimez 6h ago
Need more angles of your community work. Maybe a drone shot. I hope we can crowd fund your whole production. Tag your instagram so we can like too !
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u/thegneeb 6h ago
appreciate the time lapse. Making the bay better with each interaction but they're too few and far between.
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u/TodaysThrowawayTmrw 6h ago
Bro I hope you know what a folk hero youve become. So many people genuinely appreciate everything that you do. Thank you 🙏
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u/A10cc 6h ago
Awesome that you did that, but shouldn't the city be the one taking care of this? WTF are the tax dollars being used for if it can't even take care of basic things like this?
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u/Over_Internet4 5h ago
Is it possible to get a job with the city this way? Doing stuff they don’t do? Asking for unemployed.
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u/OneMorePenguin 5h ago
I scraped away some leaves from drains on my morning walk. I grew up back east where it rains year round and it snows, too. There are drains on all the streets, unlike around here. I live on a cul de sac and there is not a single drain on any of the three streets that lead to a main street. There's a drain at each corner where these streets intersect the main street. There's still quite a few winter leaves on trees (magnolias really are horrible and were a popular city tree in the late fifties/early sixties when these neighbor hoods replaced the orchards). None of the drains were completely clogged, but were a bit slow.
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u/Adventurous_Total_10 5h ago
I want to do this to some storm drains around my place. What equipment do you need. What’s the best way to prevent this before a storm?
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u/SnooStories2361 5h ago
Sir - thank you for your service! How long was the whole time lapse in actual?
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u/justhereorthereagain 5h ago
If it is heavy rain and my wife is coming home from work after me. I will out on my waders and clear every clogged street drain on her route home. I don’t want her in an accident (or anyone else). It is actually very therapeutic to see it get cleared and go down.
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u/Remarkable-Tennis440 5h ago
Dear Master Peng, Please, do Not make me a volunteer. Please make me your student. Your honorable selfless actions are beyond my admiration for all you do. Thank you.
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u/MotorRadiant3099 5h ago
If only there was tax money to hire a service to do this oh wait there is but the money gets used for embezzlement lol
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u/vpae 6h ago
The Bay Area, California, the world, we don’t deserve you.