State to reimburse county after October storms

The governor proclaimed a retroactive state of emergency in Santa Cruz County in response to severe October storms that caused mudslides, flooding and road damage totaling about $1 million.
Schwarzenegger’s proclamation, released Nov. 20, means the county will be reimbursed by the California Emergency Management Agency for expenses incurred during the storm.
The proclamation covers work done by county road maintenance crews outside of normal working hours during the emergency. It also pays for the road restoration work needed to fix the storm damage.
“This does not include staff time during regular working hours,” said Steve Wiesner, Santa Cruz County Public Works assistant director.
The proclamation covers Oct. 12 through 14, during the heaviest of the rains. It states that the extreme mudslides were a result of summer fires and that the resulting damage was beyond the control of city and county forces.
The state will pick up 75 percent of the expenses related to the storm cleanup, and the money will go to public works, the sheriff’s office and the office of emergency services.
Much of the money will help repair roads and clean up debris in various locations of the south county, concentrated in the Eureka Canyon area.
“This proclamation is really for the roads,” Wiesner said.
Jamison Creek Road and Bear Creek Road in Boulder Creek, Lompico Road in Felton and Alba Road in Ben Lomond were closed for extended periods with trees and wires across the road.
The extreme mud and water flows also required the mandatory evacuation of some residents and power failures that cut off electricity to thousands of homes, many in the San Lorenzo Valley, the proclamation acknowledged.
Days after the storm, the county declared a local emergency Oct. 20 and requested that Schwarzenegger proclaim a state of emergency.
The last time such a proclamation was made in the county as a result of rains was during the storms of April 2006.
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