Relief on the way for Santa Cruz County flood victims [Santa Cruz Sentinel, Calif.]

Jan. 16—WATSONVILLE — Cornelio Garcia and his family have welcomed 2023 in with three separate evacuations from their College Road home, not far from Corralitos Creek, since the start of the year.

Almost two feet of water rushed into Garcia's yard during a recent storm and flooded the garage, destroying his washing machine and dryer and several other pieces of equipment he says he uses regularly. Each time the Garcia family evacuated to another family's home, the power in their own home was turned off, meaning they returned to a refrigerator full of spoiled food.

"It's difficult because you're calling home insurance, auto insurance and some are calling back and some are not," said Garcia, who is navigating the insurance process while working full-time as a Pajaro Valley Unified School District teacher.

While Garcia said he has already received some financial support from his flood insurance to help cover emergency evacuation costs, he had not yet heard Monday about the major disaster declaration the White House announced Saturday, nor of the potential Federal Emergency Disaster Administration funds it could unlock.

"Any assistance is great," Garcia said. "It's crazy."

How to find help

The disaster declaration will go beyond in-the-moment assistance and free up assistance to local governments and nonprofits, as well as families and individuals. Applicants may seek financial assistance for cleanup and sanitation, repairs and other services for eligible agencies and households. Additional resources, including referral lists and legal aid, may be available. Applicants should also familiarize themselves with required documentation and other materials, according to Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin. To apply for help, visit DisasterAssistance.gov, download the Federal Emergency Management Agency app or call the bilingual FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 or teletypewriter 800-462-7585.

Separately, the U.S. Small Business Administration on Sunday announced availability of low-interest federal disaster loans available to California businesses and residents as a result of the declaration. The declaration covers Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties as a result of severe winter storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides beginning Dec. 27. Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. the Small Business Administration can also lend additional funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.

The Small Business Administration also is offering disaster loans of up to $200,000 for homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. Interest rates can be as low as 3.3% for businesses, nearly 2.4% for private nonprofit organizations and 2.3% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the administration and are based on each applicant's financial condition. Information and details on the location of disaster recovery centers are available by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955.

Areas continue to concern

On Monday, the National Weather Service's Monterey office was forecasting rain to clear on Tuesday, then return Wednesday in a scaled-back version of the area's worst recent atmospheric storm systems.

The city of Watsonville lifted all of its evacuation warnings Monday, though access into Pajaro from Watsonville remained closed until Monterey County officials lift the road closures. Evacuation warnings for Freedom, Corralitos and other unincorporated parts of the county north of Watsonville also were lifted by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office on Monday, except for those areas immediately along the Pajaro River.

The Sheriff's Office also found that a concern for potential flooding remained just outside Watsonville, east on Highway 129 and along the Pajaro River, due to the rising water levels. Those areas, as well as Whitehouse Canyon Road, not far from Año Nuevo State Park in the North County, remained under the more severe evacuation order Monday. According to the National Weather Service's water gauge on the Pajaro River at Old Chittenden Road, river conditions were expected to exceed its 25-foot "action stage" Monday night into Tuesday, reaching an estimated height of 27.6 feet.

According to Santa Cruz County Public Works Director Matt Machado, when the gauge reaches a height of 28.5 feet, that's when he hits his "nervous button."

"28.5 is getting up there to where you're putting extra pressure on the levee and you really need to start watching it very, very closely," Machado told the Sentinel last week.

Taking its cue from changing weather reports, the Pajaro Valley Unified School district announced that nearly all of its schools would reopen Tuesday. Based on continued evacuation orders, evacuation warnings and road conditions within Monterey County, Hall District Elementary School, Ohlone Elementary School and Pajaro Middle School were set to remain closed Tuesday, according to district officials.

Mopping up

Similarly, warnings were lifted Monday in Aptos, Boulder Creek and Felton, though the coastal roadways of Beach Drive, Las Olas Drive and Potbelly Beach Road remained under evacuation warning status.

The California Highway Patrol announced on Sunday afternoon that a new long-term hard closure was placed on Bear Creek Road between Greenview and Wheeler roads in Boulder Creek. An existing slipout there had worsened, making the road impassible, according to Santa Cruz County. No update on the road's reopening schedule was available Monday.

Elsewhere in the county, City Manager Mali LaGoe followed in the well-trodden path of other municipal leaders Saturday when she declared a state of local emergency for the city of Scotts Valley, saying damaging conditions had existed since Dec. 30. The series of storm-related impacts to the city culminated with Friday and Saturday's storm, bringing the city an additional 3 inches of rain and precipitating a second mudslide on Green Hills Road, which has closed the roadway until at least Jan. 17. LaGoe's emergency order, which will need to be ratified by the Scotts Valley City Council within seven days, estimated that storm-related damages to the city have exceeded $75,000.

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