Riverside County And Governor’s Office Declare Emergencies
Nearly 50 roads across Riverside County — including a major freeway interchange — were closed today, because of storm-related damage, the county’s transportation director told the Board of Supervisors.
“This is the most closures I can recall since 2005,” Juan Perez said. “We’ve certainly been impacted by the amount of rain generated over the last several days.”
Perez, along with county fire Chief John Hawkins, Office of Emergency Services Director Peter Lent and Flood Control & Water Conservation District Manager Warren “Dusty” Williams provided assessments to the board during an impromptu meeting at the County Administrative Center.
According to Perez, sinkholes, mudslides and flooding have led to road closures in rural areas as well as densely populated locations.
Major roadway closures include:
— The eastbound 91 freeway connector to southbound Interstate 215 and the southbound 60 transition to the 215 in Riverside, both of which have been partially shut down as a result of concrete coming loose;
— state Route 74 at Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore, where a mudslide has covered a segment of the highway;
— Gilman Springs Road in Moreno Valley, flooding;
— intersection of Limonite Avenue and Bain Street in Mira Loma, flooding; and,
— Van Buren Boulevard, between Clay Street and Jurupa Avenue in Pedley, where a sinkhole has opened up.
“I haven’t seen any long-term damage,” Perez said. “We should be able to handle the vast majority of the problems when the rain subsides.”
Lent told the board that Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger recognized the county’s local emergency proclamation Tuesday, making the county eligible to receive 75 percent reimbursement from the state for clean-up costs and other storm-related expenses.
According to Lent, the cities of Canyon Lake, Norco, San Jacinto and Wildomar have declared their own emergencies, with Desert Hot Springs and Indio soon to follow.
The county’s Emergency Operations Center is active and officials are monitoring developments, he said.
“Once the rain stops, problems don’t go away,” Lent said. “We’ll still have runoff to contend with for 24 to 48 hours.”
According to Williams, Riverside has had about 8 inches of rain recently, and the Temecula area logged nearly 13 inches.
“We’re through the bulk of it now,” he told the board. “The (flood control) system is functioning well. We need to add more to it. But it’s done a good job keeping citizens safe.”
Supervisor Jeff Stone wondered about the reliability of flow controls in the San Jacinto River and Murrieta Creek. But Williams didn’t anticipate any major problems, saying that water might be going “in the wrong direction” because of debris piles or sandbars, but it was “not a disastrous situation.”
Hawkins mentioned the eight swift water rescues that fire crews have performed since the weekend, several of them involving stranded motorists.
“Are people underestimating the depth of the water?” Supervisor John Tavaglione asked.
“Perhaps there’s a false sense of security … or just plain stupidity,” Hawkins said.
He urged motorists not to disregard barriers and risk driving onto flooded streets.
Representatives from the local chapter of the American Red Cross advised the board that nearly 200 people had sought assistance as a result of the storms, and a number of families had been displaced because of flooding.
Board Chairman Marion Ashley said the county would consider the Red Cross’s request for $100,000 to continue providing local relief.
Here’s some emergency county telephone numbers:
— Emergency Operations Center, (951) 955-4700
— flood reports, (951) 955-1230
— shelter referrals, 211
— help finding the appropriate county agency, (951) 955-6899
