Wednesday’s steady rain, which by 3 p.m. had amounted to .58 of an inch, should be the last for at least a couple of days. The region could use the break.
Storms that began Friday and dumped more than 5 inches over the past six days caused flooding, mudslides, washouts and taxed city and county resources. On Tuesday, just hours after the Tulare County Board of Supervisors declared the county a disaster area, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger included Tulare County in his designation of a state of emergency in six counties.
The unprecedented storms brought heavy rainfall to all of the state, but the brunt of the storms hit Tulare County hard Saturday through Monday. Rainfall Saturday through Sunday was more than 2 inches alone. Rainfall total in Porterville since Friday is 5.11 inches — nearly half the average rainfall for the city.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Southern California got hit hard.
Gov. Schwarzenegger proclaimed a state of emergency in Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Tulare counties due to extreme weather and storm conditions.
He noted the storms caused harm to people and property, flooding homes and infrastructure, damaging public and private facilities, closing roads and highways, and requiring emergency response and debris clean-up.
Tulare County officials estimate damage in the county is between $20 and $60 million, much of that to roads in the southern part of the county. Road 224 where it crosses Deer Creek is washed out and impassable. Many other county roads suffered damage.
Porterville City Manager John Lollis said the city estimates damage at more than $600,000. The bulk of that — $250,000 — was to Zalud Park where the ponding basin overflowed Sunday. Two homes along El Granito had water damage, the only two homes in the city that were flooded, said Lollis. There were more homes in the county that suffered water damage.
City roads took a hit to tune of $200,000 and another $19,000 was spent on overtime to pay city workers who combated the rising waters Friday night into Tuesday.
The city has also estimated damage to private property at $120,000. The state’s declaration could help private property owners as well. “We are trying to serve as a liaison for families seeking assistance,” said Lollis.
Other dollar losses are $12,000 for the rental of pumps and $10,000 in damage to the city’s off-road vehicle park on the west end of the airport that has extensive localized flooding. That flooding has also slowed construction of the new Porterville Fairgrounds, said Fair Board President John Corkins.
“Things are more normal today,” said Lollis Wednesday. “We’re pretty confident we can deal with anything that comes our way in the next few days.”
On Sunday, the city declared a local emergency just hours after the City of Visalia did so.
Lollis said the governor’s action is the first step in getting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to declare Tulare County a disaster area which would open the door to both state and federal disaster assistance.
Lollis said the governor’s action is the first step in getting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to declare Tulare County a disaster area which would open the door to both state and federal disaster assistance.
The forecast is for fair weather today and Friday with the next storm to arrive Saturday afternoon. Rainfall from that storm will be between a quarter to a half of an inch, said the Weather Service. The snowline Wednesday was 4,000 feet and will only rise slightly with the next storm.
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