Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors set a special meeting today to consider ratifying a declaration of an emergency in the county made on Friday by the Office of Emergency Services, due to impacts from a winter storm that struck in mid-March.

Supervisors meet at 1 p.m. today to consider proclaiming a state of emergency and making a request for a presidential declaration, in the wake of the winter storm, the effects of which are still being felt, and which had depleted county emergency resources.

The request for the discussion and possible action came from Sheriff Martin Ryan on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department and the Office of Emergency Services. Supervisors will consider a draft resolution “proclaiming the existence of a local emergency and requesting (the) Governor to proclaim a state of emergency and request a presidential declaration.”

The draft resolution said a local ordinance “empowers the Board of Supervisors to proclaim the existence of a local emergency when this county is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity.”

The resolution noted that Emergency Services “issued a proclamation of a local emergency for conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within this county.” It said the “county sustained considerable damages caused by the 2011 March storm commencing on or about March 16,” and “recovery efforts and damage assessments are still under way.”

Deputy Director of Amador County Emergency Services, Undersheriff James C. Wegner signed a proclamation of a local emergency last Friday, April 1, as allowed since the Board of Supervisors was not in session. The proclamation noted that it was “subject to ratification by the Board of Supervisors within seven days, and reaffirmation every 14 days thereafter, until such local emergency is terminated.”

Wegner’s proclamation noted that “it has now been found that local resources are insufficient and incapable of coping with the effects of said emergency.”

The Supervisors’ draft proclamation, which they will consider passing today, said “although current weather conditions have improved, there is a great likelihood that further damage is yet to be discovered.” That would be “part of an official damage assessment, and the full recovery process from these storms is likely to take months.”

The resolution also would order that a copy of the declaration be sent to the Governor, through the California Emergency Management Agency, with the request that the Governor “proclaim the county of Amador to be in a state of emergency; and further that the Governor request a Presidential declaration.”

The resolution also would order that the local state of emergency would remain in effect until the Board of Supervisors terminated it.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.