A state disaster declaration would allow the city to seek reimbursements for storm impacts.Ĭity staff is monitoring and working to reinforce parts of Santa Cruz prone to flooding, such as the area around the San Lorenzo River, behind the Tannery, Harvey West Park, the coastline, as well as some low-lying parts of downtown. ![]() A formal local disaster declaration allows the city to make mutual aid requests to neighboring agencies. A state declaration will ultimately be up to the governor. He said the county is still assessing whether to declare its own local emergency. Huffaker said the city plans to declare a local emergency for the damage sustained from the weekend storm and the expected damage from Wednesday’s storm. The center acts as a centralized location for the city to push out information to residents regarding all aspects and impacts of the storm. Huffaker said it’s the first time in “many years” the EOC will be activated for an emergency related to flooding. During the New Year’s Eve storm, evacuation orders were in place in Paradise Park and Felton Grove, with additional advisories for areas along Corralitos Creek.Īhead of Wednesday’s forecasted storm, the city of Santa Cruz was planning to formally activate its Emergency Operations Center, a multi-agency, interdepartmental effort, which city manager Matt Huffaker said hasn’t been activated since the CZU fires and pandemic. Keehn said the Sheriff’s Office would only issue such orders for unincorporated areas of the county, where it has jurisdiction. The Sheriff’s Office will be working closely with the county’s Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience, NWS, and local first responders to determine if and when to issue evacuation warnings and orders. Ramsay Park is set up as a shelter for evacuations, and we’re working to identify other locations in town that can serve as shelters.” “We’re advising residents to prepare for flooding and evacuations. ![]() “A lot of those residents may not have social media, so we want to make sure that information gets to them,” she said, adding that the city is also working to deliver pre-filled sandbags to senior residents. Outreach efforts are underway as the next storm draws closer. Pulido added that the Bridge Street area, which is largely a senior community area, is heavily impacted by flooding. City spokesperson Michelle Pulido told Lookout on Monday that the city is bringing in an additional 100 tons of sand for sandbags, and will be available for the community at Fire Station 1 and Ramsay Park. In Watsonville, where flooded waterways on New Year’s Eve sent multiple feet of water into some homes, the city is enlisting the help of nonprofit organizations and volunteers to knock on doors and warn residents of the upcoming storm. ![]() “This system will result in an increased risk of mudslides and debris flows across the region and especially over recent wildfire burn areas.” “Given the saturated soils and recent rains we can expect rapid responses on smaller creeks with quick rises on the rivers Wednesday through Friday,” the NWS said. Weather service officials also say the saturated condition of the county following the recent rains only increases the risk for landslides, particularly in wildfire burn scars. The National Weather Service forecasts this next storm could bring “dangerously strong” winds and 3-6 inches of rain to parts of the county and as much as 10 inches to areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains, raising the risk of even more flooding in already-swollen creeks and rivers. Now, amid the days-long clean-up effort, county residents are being told to prepare again for yet another storm late Tuesday into Wednesday, forecasted to be more severe than the deluge that killed one person just days earlier. Dozens of roads across Santa Cruz County remained closed Monday following torrential New Year’s Eve storms that flooded local streets and damaged homes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |