The Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency in Orange County on Tuesday, March 14, in hopes of getting access to disaster response support and relief amid the winter storms that have caused damage in several communities and keep on coming.
Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for 34 counties that were heavily impacted by the recent barrage of storms that have hit the state, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Santa Clara counties, but not Orange County.
Once acknowledged by the state, the local emergency declaration will make it possible for Orange County to also request aid that can go toward damage caused by the storm. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services requires counties proclaim a declaration of emergency first for cities to receive assistance.
“I hope we get the governor’s attention and his team to get support,” said Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley, who called on her fellow supervisors to make the declaration.
Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, and Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, have written Newsom asking that the county be included in the state’s emergency declarations.
The winter storms have caused at least $6.4 million in damage across several cities, including Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Seal Beach, officials have estimated.
“Orange County has been impacted by an onslaught of winter storms with little respite between events,” Foley wrote in her proposal to the other supervisors. “From December 2022 through the present, our coastal communities have suffered ongoing impacts due to coastal flooding, high surf, erosion and land saturation, resulting in land movement and impacts to structures.”
In Laguna Beach, storms in January destroyed a lifeguard tower, with the cost of the damage estimated at $96,000. Several large wooden pilings and the boat ramp were torn from the Seal Beach Pier along with other damage and local flooding that initial estimates put at…
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