SACRAMENTO – With a series of storms forecasted to continue through mid-March, including an atmospheric river event later this week, Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency to support storm response and relief efforts in 21 additional counties: Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Lake, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Yuba.
The Governor last week proclaimed a state of emergency in 13 counties due to storms and activated the California Guard and State Operations Center to bring state support to county-led emergency response efforts and coordinate mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions.
The text of today’s emergency proclamation can be found here.
“The state is working around the clock with local partners to deploy life-saving equipment and first responders to communities across California. With more dangerous storms on the horizon, we’ll continue to mobilize every available resource to protect Californians.”
Governor Newsome
The state has significant staffing and equipment resources from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, CAL FIRE, and the California National Guard on the ground in impacted areas.
CAL FIRE and partner agencies have 43 crews active statewide, 12 of which are committed to the San Bernardino storm incident, as well as two helicopters, two dozers, and an Incident Management Team, among other resources. The California Guard is pre-positioning High Water Vehicles in preparation for flood response operations.
Caltrans has mobilized more than 4,000 crew members to hundreds of incidents statewide, working 24/7 in shifts. In San Bernardino County, more than 57 Caltrans employees operating 40 high-powered pieces of equipment, including snowplows, graders, loaders, and dump trucks, have removed more than 12.6 million cubic yards of snow off state highways as of March 8, which equates to more than 3,800 Olympic-size swimming pools. CHP is increasing resources in targeted areas to help address storm-related needs – including ensuring full staffing for air operation missions, ready to deploy as needed.
Cal OES has coordinated with the Department of Developmental Services to open six shelters in the counties of San Bernardino, Stanislaus, Madera, Butte, and Nevada, and has facilitated food donations through the California Grocers Association to provide meal kits in San Bernardino County.
Visit CalAlerts.org to sign up for local wireless emergency alerts and QuickMap (ca.gov) to check road conditions in your area.
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