Information provided by the County of San Benito. Lea este artículo en español aquí.

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors this week immediately declared a Local State of Emergency following the Governor’s statewide emergency declaration in preparation for potential impacts from the upcoming El Niño storm season.

County Supervisors unanimously approved the first Local State of Emergency declaration for a California county following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide declaration. The County is taking a proactive, preventative approach to forecasts calling for historically rainy winter months with the possibility of flooding and other damage.

The statewide and local declarations open the door for property owners and jurisdictions to clear out creeks, culverts, ditches and other infrastructure that impede the flow of water, without the traditional approval process from State Fish & Wildlife. With the Local State of Emergency declaration, the County also aims to recover local taxpayer funding that may be necessary to prevent damage and respond to storm impacts.

County agencies provided presentations at Tuesday’s special meeting laying out their initial but aggressive planning for possible storm impacts ‒ as directed by the Board on Sept. 1 ‒ including details provided by the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works, and the Health & Human Services Department.

County officials are working collaboratively to address key preventative and planning initiatives, such as:

  • Clearing of creeks and other impediments to water flows.
  • Notifying all property owners in potential flood zones by letter about lifted environmental
  • restrictions and how to proceed with cleanups. Establishing on-call contracts for timely responses.
  • Laying out plans for sheltering and evacuations.
  • Developing partnerships with local nonprofits and other jurisdictions.
  • Establishing an Incident Command and Emergency Operations Center for centralized
  • communications.
  • Scheduling public workshops to promote engagement.
  • Initially allocating up to $500,000 in emergency reserves with the potential to allocate
  • more funding if necessary.

While storm seasons are unpredictable, San Benito County is preparing for the worst-case scenario amid growing concern from forecasters about the potential for historically strong storms this winter, with the worst conditions expected to arrive in December and January.

The County will prioritize communication with the public moving forward, so please look out for more information on public meetings and a dashboard established on the County website that will be updated as the storm season progresses.

CONTACT:
Graciela Rodriguez
Senior Administrative Analyst
San Benito County
(831) 636-4000 GRodriguez@sanbenitocountyca.gov