Mother nature certainly dumped a deluge on District 5.
Unfortunately, there has been one tragic death. As far as physical damage goes, it was
significant, but not legendary. In addition to the local emergency declared by Siskiyou County,
Governor Schwarzenegger has also declared a state of emergency for 23 California Counties.
The State declaration authorizes state personnel, equipment and facilities to assist in
the emergency in accordance with the State Emergency Plan. http://www.oes.ca.gov
It is important to report
significant damages to the County so that the need for assistance programs is documented. Call
842-2266. You will be asked to fill out a form over the phone to a live person taking
your information. Or you can email your information to john.villani@co.sisqjustice.ca.us
As of this
date, very rough initial assessments of known damages indicate that there has been about
$3 million in individual damages with approximately 16 residences destroyed, 31 with major
damage and 74 with minor damage. There has been about $1 million in estimated damages to
businesses - 1 major damage and 4 minor.
Public damage includes $5 million in damages to roads and bridges; $3 million to water
control facilities; $1 million to public utilities; $2 million to public buildings and
equipment; with an additional $1 million to parks and other facilities. Around $2 million
will be spent on debris removal and emergency protection and response.
The State has also requested
that the President declare an emergency, which would bring in federal personnel, equipment
and facilities to assist and support according to the National Response Plan. The amount
of partial reimbursement to the County for emergency expenses, as well as the availability
of loans, grants and assistance from FEMA to flood victims is dependent upon these
declarations.
At this point, the Board of
Equalization has granted some special tax relief in the timely filing of certain taxes and
payment of fines. http://www.boe.ca.gov.
In addition, agriculture-related damages can also be reported to USDA Farm Services Agency
(FSA) or the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) at 842-6123 for available
assistance. Several families with damaged homes are receiving assistance from the Red
Cross.
Located
at the CDF (California Department of Forestry and Fire Fighting) facility in Yreka, Siskiyou
County
did establish an Emergency
Operations
Center
when it became probable that substantial flooding would occur. Working under the Incident
Command System (ICS) that is standard
operating procedure for firefighters and emergency personnel, many departments and
agencies worked together to ensure early placement of equipment, communications and
coordinated response to the flood emergency. This included the County
Office
of Emergency Services (OES,) the Sheriff’s department, Auditing, Public Works, Human
Services, Public Health and Administration. Other agencies included CDF, the Red Cross,
individual Fire Departments and Hose Companies, CalTrans,
California
Highway Patrol, Pacific Power, Neighborhood Watch and many other groups.
There
were lots of hours put in by many people during this emergency. Lots of things went very
well. Some could stand improvement. In the months ahead, we will be looking at “lessons
learned” during this emergency, as well as the experiences brought back from
volunteers who helped on the hurricanes of Katrina and Rita. |
