January 13, 2017 – Impact from the atmospheric river event kept a variety of County operations busy all week long and will continue well into next week and possibly longer. A summary of events and impact are as follows:

The Office of Emergency Services (OES) reported:

  • The Town of Truckee requested assistance for a warming center and/or shelter. At that time Truckee had no power, limited cell coverage and worsening blizzard conditions.
  • OES staff held a meeting with Public Health, Social Services, Building Department and Public Works and developed a response and support plan.
  • In collaboration with Placer County, a warming center was opened at the Truckee airport.
  • The Town of Truckee declared a local disaster.
  • Due to a large sink hole and other damages, the City of Grass Valley declared a local emergency.
  • When two cities declare a disaster in the same county, State quires that the county declares, so the County declared a disaster.  The Board of Supervisors will ratify this decision on Tuesday, January 17th at 9:00 a.m. in the Board Chambers.
  • Residents received over 15,000 sandbags and sand from four County provided locations free of charge over this event. 10,000 sand bags had been provided in the several weeks before this event.

Public Works reported the following:

  • The Town of Washington’s water supply system received storm damage and has limited capacity. County OES staff is coordinating with the water district, fire department, and State officials to provide assistance.
  • Currently there is one road closure on Maybert Road approximately 1 mile east of the town of Washington. The road is closed indefinitely until further notice, as a portion of road was washed away due to high levels of the Yuba River.
  • This week Banner Quaker Hill Road going into Cascade Shores was opened. There is a tree located on private property that appears to be in danger of falling on public property and local overhead utility lines. We continue to monitor the tree and may close Banner Quaker Hill again if the tree condition worsens or if weather conditions threaten the tree.
  • A high number of phone calls and complaints about a variety of storm related damage throughout Nevada County including storm drainage problems, slides and sloughing of roadway shoulders were received and responded to.
  • The preliminary estimate for storm damaged cost is at $500,000, although additional inspections in the coming week or two may push this number up.