San Benito County Search and Rescue (SAR) pulled three people from their van on Lovers Lane the evening of Jan. 14 after they were trapped by rapidly rising flood waters from Pacheco Creek. Using an ex-military MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle as a high-water rescue unit, Sheriff’s deputies and the SAR team members extracted the people from their van, which had to be abandoned, and took them to their home that was still on dry ground.
One serious concern is that law enforcement says there are approximately 39 residents in the Lover’s Lane area who are unwilling to evacuate at this time.
The scene along Fairview Road, where the command center for the flood response throughout the week was set up, was a scene of units from the Hollister Fire Department, San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, volunteer SAR members, Highway Patrol, Cal Fire, and a Swift Water Rescue Unit from outside the county.
Three drones and a Highway Patrol (CHP) helicopter were used to search for a suspected break in the levee near San Felipe Road. Using computers linked by satellite to the aircraft, Hollister Fire Chief Bob Martin Del Campo indicated the levee had not broken but the fast-rising water had crested the levee on both sides of a small bridge along San Felipe Road, north of the Dunneville intersection.
Chief Martin Del Campo, who operated as representative between all of the responding agencies, said after the initial 911 call came in at 5:50 pm that there was a potential levee break, he and other first responders coordinated by phone about what was needed.
“If we’re going to be evacuating people, we were going to have to get them out,” he said. “We would need the MRAP. We brought in two other high-water vehicles. Once we got a request for what was needed, we got started with eight SAR units.”
He said other responders came from the California Office of Emergency Services that included swift water rescue units from Fremont, Oakland and San Francisco.
“All those SAR volunteers were out there helping people, making sure nobody was stuck, and assisting Caltrans and the county to set up roadblocks,” he said.
“We have a drone unit coming from the south working its way up north to San Felipe and we’ve got HP’s [Highway Patrol] drone unit coming from the north working its way south to have some kind of a meeting point,” he continued. “CHP’s helicopter unit is flying over to get an overview. We got a call about an hour ago saying that there was a levee break and we’re trying to find it, but there is water that’s inundating the Lovers Lane area the same place that we had last week.”
Using the computer, Martin Del Campo monitored the SAR team aboard the MRAP which was patrolling along Lovers Lane and other rescue units were monitoring traffic along Frazier Lake Road, Lake Road, and San Felipe Road. He said only the three people on Lovers Lane had been rescued and they refused to leave the area. Everyone else who was contacted in the Lovers Lane area also declined to leave, telling SAR that the north end of the road leading to Highway 152 was still clear and they could get out that way if they had to.
“We have eight or nine SAR volunteers out there, and I’ve got a total of 15 or more first responders working this,” he said. “We want to pinpoint where they are before we deploy assets to the affected areas, but the MRAP is out there right now trying to find a potential victim.”
Sheriff Eric Taylor told BenitoLink over the course of flooding for the past week, there were 15 rescue missions involving 23 people, 16 animal rescues (dogs, goats and horses), and 39 people refused to leave the area. He also said there were no injuries to either staff or volunteers.
On the evening of Jan. 14, Kris Mangano, manager of the County Office of Emergency Services, told BenitoLink that the Community Center on 4th Street in Hollister was open for evacuees but, at that point, no one showed up.
Resources
The Community Foundation for San Benito County announced it opened a Disaster Recovery Fund to aid community members experiencing hardships related to the storm conditions and flooding.
The fund is dedicated to providing relief to those in the county affected by local disasters, including floods, fire, earthquakes, and more.
Gifts to the San Benito Disaster Recovery Fund can be made through the Foundation’s website, or mailed to the Community Foundation.
For more information call the Community Foundation at 831-630-1924.
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