Nevada City, CA – Today, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency due to the recent winter storms that have brought substantial rain, high winds, and significant snowfall at higher elevations, resulting in damage to County roads due to fallen trees, debris flows, and culvert failures.
“Our Public Works team has been working 24/7 to keep roads safe and wastewater systems running. Last night, our road teams rapidly responded and had a roadway reopened within two hours of the report that a tree fell into a power line overnight. Since the storms began in late December, our wastewater team has treated over 20 million gallons of wastewater and worked the equivalent of 40 days of overtime to keep our systems running,” said Community Development Agency Director Trisha Tillotson. “Please drive safe and slow, and report issues to us so we can respond quickly.”
The wet and windy weather has also created periodic power outages due to trees falling on power lines and other storm damage. PG&E field crews have been responding to outages to ensure service is restored expeditiously to residents.
“The strength and consistency of these winter storms are creating a multitude of impacts throughout the state, including Nevada County. Our OES team continues to work closely with partners including PG&E, NID and local water districts, CAL FIRE and local fire districts, CalOES, and FEMA to ensure our community is fully supported during these events,” says Director of Emergency Services Craig Griesbach.
Nevada County joins 18 other California counties that have proclaimed local emergencies due to the series of winter storms, in addition to State and federal emergency declarations. The local emergency proclamation allows Nevada County to respond more effectively to winter storm impacts, seek and utilize mutual aid as needed, obtain state and federal funding where it’s available, and ensure the County has the necessary tools to endure the ongoing weather events.
Storms will continue this week, bringing more high winds, up to 10.5 inches of rain, and snow in high elevations through Monday. Nevada County OES and partners continue to respond, monitor, and stay prepared for the continuing weather and encourage residents to stay prepared as well by:
- Fuel up your personal vehicle and make sure you have fuel for your generator
- Check on your neighbors
- Stay tuned to trusted news sources, such as local media outlets and government agencies
- Make sure you have enough groceries for 72 hours
- Ensure you have a secondary way to heat your home
- Charge your cell phone, tablet, laptop, etc.
- Call 211, not 911, for non-emergencies
- Sign up for emergency alerts through CodeRED by visiting ReadyNevadaCounty.org/EmergencyAlerts, texting ReadyNevadaCounty to 99411 and following the link, or calling 211 for assistance from a Connecting Point call agent.
- Avoid flooded roads, and never try to drive across a flooded road
- Be aware of flooding concerns along waterways and low-lying areas.
- Avoid the River Fire burn scar, as there is a potential for debris flow in this area
- Secure household items that may blow away in high winds
- Use sandbags to mitigate flooding on your property. The county of Nevada has no-cost sandbags at four sites, and they are first come, first serve: www,ReadyNevadaCounty.org/Sandbags
- Report down trees or flooding on County maintained roads at www.NevadaCountyCA.gov/ServiceRequest for by calling (530) 265-1411
- Report sewer overflows, spills, or flashing lights at wastewater facilities by calling 530-265-1555 to help us prevent or address spills. Do not open sewer cleanouts or break pipes to drain stormwater.
Residents can also learn more about winter weather preparedness at ReadyNevadaCounty.org. Follow Office of Emergency services on Twitter @NevCoOES and Facebook @NevadaCountyOES for updates and tips on how to prepare.