Driving through the outskirts of San Juan Bautista toward his Los Madrones home, Bryan Keel came across an unwelcome sight on March 10: a mudslide on Quinn Canyon Road caused by the recent rainstorms blocked the way through to his house—and blocked his neighbors’ way out.
“People were stuck in their houses with no way out up there,” Keel said. “I couldn’t get through either, so I ended up walking the rest of the way home. I have a tractor, so I could get out and immediately start cleaning.”
Carlos Solis left for work at 9 a.m. on March 10 while the road was still clear, but he knew what to expect on the drive home. His wife, Jessie, called to say she was stranded at home. She had no way down to the city four miles below.
“She was trying to take one of our daughters to school,” he said. “She texted me a picture of the slide that showed it was impassable. I got off work early and headed through the flooded area on the Alameda. I have a four-wheel drive, so I was able to take one of the easements we have here to get up to my house.”
He and Keel, along with some of their neighbors, set to work clearing the road and debris.
“Matt LeBron was out there with his chainsaw, taking down trees and working with wheelbarrows and shovels,” Keel said. “He brought his daughter Sarah, and she was digging as well. Garvin Stone was out there too. Even though he is a senior, he worked as hard as anyone to get everything cleared out. It shows the great sense of community in the San Juan Canyon area.”
LeBron said, with nobody around to clear the road for them, it became the work of the local residents.
“Our neighbors were out there,” he said. “We were cutting trees down, moving the mud, and clearing the culverts we have over here. It was a team effort up here on that particular day, just like any other time there is an event that happens up here.”
Mudslides are a common occurrence on that road, Keel said, and at times even the smallest amount of mud can cause problems, hindering the delivery of propane, for example, as truck drivers weigh the risk of losing control and skidding off the road.
With more storms to come, Keel said he is thinking about taking time off as he tries to decide how best to prepare for any new problems.
“I want to be around to pitch in and make sure we clear up things as quickly as possible,” he said. “The ground is still very saturated. When we were cleaning it up this time, the liquefaction would make it flow as you tried to clean it up instead of shoveling it up as dirt. It would just blow off your shovel or out of the scoop of my little tractor.”
Amid the hazards of living in the canyon, the Los Madrones community has become used to being self-sufficient, as they stockpile and maintain emergency equipment and supplies.
“Some of us have been here for like 30 years,” LeBron said. “So we have everything from leaf blowers to chainsaws and now Bryan’s Bobcat, which is a huge asset to our community. We’re also prone to blackouts up here, and our electricity goes out a fair amount of time. So we’re also stacked with firewood, and if one of our neighbors doesn’t have firewood, we’re more than happy to take it to them.”
They have also set up a communications network via text chains and email to stay on top of any problems.
“We send out email blasts,” said LeBron. “We do fire cleanup days and weed-whacking days, which are coordinated personally through those personal emails. We also have a community forum where people can post things of public interest, which can easily be used to let people know that you need help. Out here, you have to take care of yourself, because there might not be anyone else around to help.”
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.