Days of flooding in Marin foreshadow holiday surge

Peter Hogg eyed the lengthy 2-foot-wide orange inflatable tube that held back the highest tide of October at the entrance to the Greenbrae Boardwalk. Hogg, an engineer and county Flood Zone 9 Advisory Board member who lives in the neighborhood, has been setting up the flood barrier for 15 years. On Wednesday, as tides reached 8 feet above sea level, a foot-deep pool blocked the boardwalk s front steps. But the rubber tube protected a nearby mobile home park. Hogg watched as a neighbor, Mara Gladstone, waded through murky water to get to her car. She s going to the deep spot, he said. It s going to go right in her boot. This is bad, Gladstone said, once on dry pavement. Moments before, her daughter, Violet, rode her bike through the water to get home from middle school. October tides crested higher and reached farther into low-lying areas than the prior month. The surge tested defenses and previewed impacts from even higher tides expected during Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks, a