Amador County – The Amador County declaration of a state of emergency for its road conditions was fortified at the gubernatorial level last week with a declaration of a state of emergency by Gov. Jerry Brown for 19 California Counties, based on winter storm damage in the counties.

Bay Area counties were included in the declaration of a state of emergency, as was Amador County, Butte, Del Norte, Humboldt, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Stanislaus, Sutter, Trinity, Tuolumne and Ventura counties.

Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner made the initial declaration April 1st, after the Amador County Sheriff’s Office began to receive reports from around the county of increased peril to the public due to road damages. The Amador County Board of Supervisors in a special meeting April 5 ratified the declaration.

Wegner made the initial designation while acting as Deputy Director of Emergency Services due to the amount of damage to county roads, and the resulting “conditions of extreme peril.” The storm hit March 16 and dropped several inches of rain in a short period and caused damage in multiple counties.

Wegner told Supervisors that Amador County roads suffered up to $1.6 million in damage.

The ratification by Supervisors included a request through the California Emergency Management Association for the Governor to make a request for a Presidential declaration. The Governor’s declaration enables seeking federal relief funds, to reconstruct highways and county roads. Wegner said the state threshold is $44 million to be able to get federal funding.

Dana Owens, of the California Emergency Management Agency said Santa Cruz had the most damage, with about $17 million in estimated costs.

Wegner gave supervisors a list of 26 county roads with damage and repair cost estimates. The County list included an estimated $280,000 in damage to Stony Creek Road, with “clay pumping up through paved surface” and shoulders washed out in various locations.

The full extent of the damage was believed to be unknown at the time. Plymouth listed seven roads damaged in the storm, with a repair cost estimated at $51,000, the biggest $25,000 in damage to Old Sacramento Road, where an “overflowing creek degraded and undermined road base.” Road damage assessments from Jackson, Amador City, Sutter Creek and Ione were unknown at the time.

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