WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California agricultural community known for its strawberry crop was forced to evacuate early Saturday after a levee on the Pajaro River broke due to flooding from a new atmospheric river. struck the state.
Across Monterey County on the Central Coast, more than 8,500 people were under evacuation orders and warnings Saturday, including nearly 1,700 residents — mostly Latino workers — from the unincorporated Pajaro community.
Officials say the breach in the Pajaro River levee is about 100 feet (30.48 meters) wide. Crews went door-to-door on Friday afternoon to urge residents to leave before the rain arrived but some remained and had to be pulled out of the flood early Saturday.
First responders and the California National Guard rescued more than 50 people overnight. A video shows a member of the Guard helping a driver get out of a car stuck in waist-deep water.
“We hope to avoid and prevent this situation, but the worst situation in the case came with the Pajaro River overtopping and the levee break around midnight,” written by Luis Alejochair of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, on Twitter.
VISITORS called flooding “A lot,” as the damage will take months to heal.
The Pajaro River separates Santa Cruz and Monterey counties in the area that flooded on Saturday. Flood waters that seeped into wells in the region could be contaminated with chemicals, officials said, and residents were told not to drink or cook with the tap water for fear of illness.
Officials were working along the levee in hopes of getting it in place when it broke around midnight Friday into Saturday. Crews began working to repair the levee at dawn Saturday while residents slept in evacuation centers.
Oliver Gonzalez, 12, told The Associated Press that he, his mother and aunt were rescued around 5 a.m. last Saturday in Parajo. He took his laptop, cellphone and some important documents but left a lot behind in their haste to leave.
“I’m scared,” he said hours later from an evacuation center in nearby Watsonville. “My mom’s car was left in the water.”
Anais Rodriguez, 37, said first responders knocked on the door of her home shortly after midnight. His family packed about four days worth of clothes and headed for safety. She and her two children, her husband and her parents – along with their dog, Mila – arrived at the shelter about an hour ago with few answers about what this will mean for their community moving forward. .
The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday said it was monitoring the condition of Pajaro.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and the state is moving to support the community,” the governor’s office wrote on Twitter.
Pajaro Valley is a coastal agricultural area known for growing strawberries, apples, cauliflower, broccoli and artichokes. National brands such as Driscoll’s Strawberries and Martinelli’s are headquartered in the region.
In 1995, the banks of the Pajaro River broke, submerging 2,500 hectares (1,011 acres) of farmland and the community of Pajaro. Two people died and the flooding caused nearly $100 million in damage. A state law, passed last year, increased state funding for a levee project. It is scheduled to begin construction in 2024.
State Sen. John Laird, who spearheaded the legislation and represents the area, said the project is now fully funded but only came with bad rainy weather this year.
“It’s a bummer, we were almost done before the storms,” he said.
This week’s storm marks the state’s 10th atmospheric winter storm, storms that have brought more rain and snow to the state and helped alleviate drought conditions that have lasted for three years. The state’s reservoirs have dipped to extremely low levels today, well above average for this time of year, prompting state officials to release water from dams to help with flood control and provide room for more rain.
Across the state on Saturday, Californians battled torrential rain and rising water levels in the wake of the atmospheric river. In Tulare County, the sheriff ordered residents living near the Tule River to evacuate, while people near Poso Creek in Kern County are under an evacuation warning. The meteorologists of the National Weather Service Flood advisories and warnings have been issued, asking motorists to avoid flooded roads.
In San Francisco, an 85-foot (25.91 meter) eucalyptus tree fell on the Trocadero Clubhouse early Saturday morning. The 1892 clubhouse, a historic San Francisco landmark, was badly abandoned, with part of the roof collapsed and the interior flooded.
Funnel clouds were spotted in the Jamestown area — the heart of California’s Gold Rush — on Saturday afternoon and the weather service issued a tornado warning for the Sierra Nevada foothills as thunderstorms and hail blanketed the region. Another set of tornado warnings were issued in Fresno County y, nearly 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) south of Gold Country.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Newsom has declared emergencies in 34 counties in recent weeks, and the Biden administration approved a presidential disaster declaration for some on Friday morning, a move that will bring more federal aid. . President Biden spoke with Newsom on Saturday to pledge the federal government’s support for California’s response to the emergency, the White House said.
The atmospheric river, known as the “Pineapple Express” because it carries warm subtropical moisture across the Pacific from near Hawaii, is melting the lower reaches of the massive snowpack built up in the California mountains.
Another atmospheric river is in the forecast for early next week. State climatologist Michael Anderson said a third appeared to be forming in the Pacific and a fourth was possible.
California appeared to be “well on its way to a fourth year of drought” before an early series of winter storms, Anderson said Friday. “We’re in a very different situation now,” he added.
The National Weather Service on Saturday predicted a heavy downpour of rain and snow Monday through Wednesday, with extensive flooding possible along the state’s central coast, the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and the southern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. until mid-week.
Another round of heavy, wet snow is expected to hit the Sierras and high-elevation areas by midweek, the weather service said. Officials reported about 32 inches (81 centimeters) of snow fell Saturday morning at the Mount Rose ski resort on the outskirts of Reno, Nevada.
_
Dazio reports from Los Angeles.
