A State Parks Rescue swimmer paddles to shore from a pickup that stalled in deep water on Paulsen Road Monday morning. —photo by Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County officials on Tuesday declared a local emergency in the wake of the atmospheric river winter storm on Dec. 30 and 31 that ravaged roads and infrastructure and caused widespread flooding.

The Board of Supervisors will consider the declaration during their Jan. 10 meeting, which will allow the County to request funding under the California Disaster Assistance Act, County Deputy Administrative Officer Melodie Serino stated in a press release.

Damages to public infrastructure are estimated at $10 million, which are beyond the County’s ability to fund, Serino said. 

Damages include the failure of Glenwood Drive, Granite Creek Road and Highland Way, as well as flooding in Soquel Village and along Corralitos and Salsipuedes creeks.

The storm caused mudslides and debris flows, road washouts, road collapses and power outages throughout the County, which is expected to increase during the next storm on Wednesday.

For information go here.

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General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://staging.pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/

8 COMMENTS

      • try reading some info about climate science. get educated. we helped aggravate this climate change due to inaction. i have already spelled out, on this website, what we need to do.
        Mother Nature is angry because we have NOT been good stewards of the earth. and only an ignoramus POTUS , who had his daddy purchase his grades throughout school, like trumpty dumpty, would pull us out of the Paris Climate accords. stupid
        move ! fortunately, thanks to JOE BIDEN, we have rejoined them. all 200 nations ! thank you to ambassador John Kerry for his leadership to help lessen extreme weather around the world.

  1. “Global Climate Change” caused the flooding in Watsonville, according to Steve. You can’t make this up. This is who influences your kids at school.

  2. Yea, well it’s not as though Santa Cruz County puts much effort or $$ into their roads or any other infrastructure despite the constant taxes, fees, bonds, etc. they fill their coffers with. Wonder where it all goes…? Any guesses?

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