As the 60th Tehachapi Mountain Festival gears up for the weekend, organizers and vendors are excited to get the event off the ground, but they're having to think about the potential of severe weather, as the remnants of Hurricane Hilary are expected to drop heavy rains across Kern County. 23ABC's Sam Hoyle visited Tehachapi to learn more about the preparations.
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00:00 As we continue our coverage of the potential for severe weather in Kern County, 23 ABC Sam Hoyle paid a visit to Tehachapi to see how they're taking the weather into account for one of the area's biggest events of the year.
00:12 It is the 60th year of the Tehachapi Mountain Festival and as you can see this banner stretches across three legs detailing the history of this area.
00:21 And as organizers and vendors are excited to get this event off the ground this weekend, they're having to think about the potential for severe weather.
00:28 Try not to let my products get wet. I mean they're intended to go outside and get rained on anyway, but let's let the people who buy them let them get wet.
00:41 Most of our stuff I have a pretty quick, like I can break this whole booth down in an hour.
00:46 So I just keep my bins under here for fabric stuff that I can throw in there real quick. We have a work trailer so we just put it in the back and organize it when we get home.
00:59 Though there is severe weather in the forecast, the festival's organizers are holding out hope that the weather holds off because of the event's importance to the community, both socially and financially.
01:08 It is a huge homecoming. Every year everyone comes back, but it is also the greatest economic impact on our community.
01:16 It brings all of our hotels are filled, our restaurants anticipate being filled, all of our coffee shops are ready.
01:21 We are excited. This is a huge economic impact in our community.
01:25 But if severe weather comes, organizers say there are contingency plans in place.
01:29 We do have an emergency evacuation plan if we need to evacuate for lightning or for heavy rains or hail. And so we are making sure that safety is our top priority, making sure that everyone is going to be in a safe place.
01:42 And we do have an evacuation center if needed. That's very close by.
01:45 And citywide, Tehachapi Public Works has been preparing the streets and storm drains ahead of a weather event like this.
01:50 But our public works team is a part of our regular maintenance to our infrastructure. They inspect our storm drains, the flood control channels, and making sure that our sumps, the collection areas, are all free of debris.
02:06 The Tehachapi Mountain Festival is slated to start this evening. In Tehachapi, Sam Hoyle, 23 ABC News, connecting you.