Felton resident Melissa Harrell, 42, knows there’s a price to pay to live in paradise. And this weekend—with a chance of debris flows in the forecast—that meant scooping up the family and escaping a potential natural disaster, once more.
“For me, it’s a bummer to have to evacuate every time it rains hard,” she said, quickly adding to her that it’s worth it. “We’re all really lucky to live here in a really special place.”
She spoke with the Press Banner outside the evacuation gathering point at San Lorenzo Valley High School, on Sunday afternoon. Her 8-year-old daughter Miriam reported she was “freezing,” even though she was wearing a raincoat.
“My legs are cold,” she said.
When the CZU Lightning Complex flames roared through, just over a year ago, their beloved chickens got split up, Miriam remembers. But that experience helped prepare them for this one, Melissa adds.
“We got an RV during the fires last year,” she said. “That’s made it a lot easier.”
The evacuation orders went into effect at 8am on Sunday, but were lifted some 24 hours later after no debris flows occurred in the Valley. County officials said some 319 addresses were at risk of the deadly, fast-moving masses of mud, rocks, boulders, trees and sometimes homes or vehicles.
Craig Jenni, a logistics lead with the American Red Cross’ Northern California Coastal Region, arrived at the site around noon with a trailer he’d hauled up from Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz. Inside were 75 army cots, three medical beds and 250 blankets.
Lorraine Jacobs, the non-governmental organization’s shelter advisor, said they’d also brought tarps to cover the floor, and comfort kits to hand out—which include washcloths, soap and toothpaste. Jenni added they even brought a coffee pot, which was already in use.
“The mission—before that—is to be ready,” Jacobs chimed in. “We have all the materials for people to spend the night if it looks like that’s what we’re going to need.”
Jenni added: “That doesn’t mean just today. We spend days and days making sure our trailers are ready.”
The aid organization has 13 additional such mobile units at the ready—three of which could be deployed to San Lorenzo Valley within minutes. Jacobs says everything fell into place Sunday because of coordination that’s been going on behind the scenes.
“What’s really neat, I think, is the Red Cross is working with the county,” she said. “That wasn’t happening 10-15 years ago.”
Randy Fedak, a county employee and site manager for the SLVHS evac site, said around 5pm Sunday they’d only signed up one person who wanted to stay overnight in the auditorium.
David Davis, a nurse supervisor for the county, said there are a lot of similarities between responding to a wildfire and this risk of mudslides, he added. And with a pandemic going on at the same time, that just adds another layer of complexity, he notes.
“It’s a dynamic situation,” he said. “It’s going to evolve and change.”
The evacuation stirred powerful memories of the CZU fire, for some.
Ten-year-old Clint Rosenberg was eating sorbet on the patio of La Placa Family Bakery in Ben Lomond, as the rain dumped on the awning overhead.
He told of how, last year, he could smell the smoke from their family’s house in Ben Lomond, as they prepared to evacuate.
“We saw it,” he said of the approaching flames, describing how worried he was about a neighbor whose parents weren’t planning on evacuating until the very last minute. “What’s gonna happen to my house? What’s gonna happen to my friend?”
And he remembers how great it felt to return to an unscathed home—and discover his friend’s house had survived, too.
His mom Quynh said with the CZU evacuation and distance learning as a result of the pandemic, her son has faced plenty of disruptions, recently.
“He’s had a lot to deal with in his short little life,” she said, noting they can’t help but feel connected to the community. “We love this area, no matter what.”
Just after 4pm, Boulder Creek Fire Protection District Chief Mark Bingham watched as his tacticians poured over maps of the Santa Cruz Mountains and refined their plan of attack from last winter’s debris-flow-risk evacuation.
“It appears that a lot of people have not listened to the evacuation order,” he said, standing beside one of four engines at the ready. “It feels like a lot of folks have decided to stay behind.”
The district had mustered about 20 volunteers, as curtains of rain bathed the swaying redwoods on the surrounding mountainside. It had already responded to 8-10 weather-related emergencies by Sunday afternoon, Bingham said.
