Congressman Mike Levin has sent a request to the federal government to include Orange County in the ongoing Presidential Emergency Declaration.
His plea follows landslides that resulted in four apartment buildings being red-tagged in San Clemente and closed Coast Highway in Dana Point; flooding of Pacific Coast Highway further north in Huntington Beach that shut down traffic on Wednesday, March 15; and other storm-related damage in recent weeks. More storms are expected in the near future.
“We have to do whatever we can to ensure there are federal resources, to make sure FEMA is fully engaged to make sure that we help these residents who are being forced to leave and that Orange County is added to the list for the federal emergency declaration,” said Levin, a Democrat representing the 49th District in southern OC and northern San Deigo County. “We’re committed to working with the mayor, the city manager and law enforcement – however we can to ensure that happens as quickly as possible.”
The landslide in San Clemente sent the blufftop residents scrambling Wednesday as portions of concrete patios crashed down the hill onto a popular beach trail, which remains closed on Thursday and likely will be shut for months, officials said.
The mix of short-term and long-term renters had little time to grab essential belongings before the buildings were red-tagged following geologist and engineer studies and they were no longer allowed to enter their homes.
Levin noted that Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 14, a day before the San Clemente landslide, expanded his state declaration to include Orange County. That same day, the Orange County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency amid all the recent storms.
Many of the 58 counties across California are under the FEMA federal state of emergency declaration already, following the difficult weather the past six to eight weeks, Levin said. “We haven’t had it in Orange County because we haven’t needed it. Then,…
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