All photos by Ethan Swope

Tam and the surrounding area experienced widespread flooding on January 12, due to a combination of heavy rainfall in prior days and a large king tide. King tides are the result of a high tide when the sun and moon are aligned which increases their gravitational pull on Earth.

Principal J.C. Farr sent an email to the Tam community at 7:55 on January 12. “Today at 11:30am there will be a king tide that will most likely shut down the local streets and around Tam High,” he wrote. “This likely flooding will coincide with our lunch time.  Please advise your students who park near the school to stay out of the low laying areas and not to take risks when driving. ”

Streets around Tam, most notably Camino Alto, were closed midday and visitors and staff members were advised to move their cars from the pool parking lot to higher ground.

Streets were reopened by the end of the school day.