Flooding is a regular threat for San Lorenzo River

In Santa Cruz County, it’s all hands on deck for the county’s emergency services this weekend. The County’s operation center will be activated from Saturday afternoon through Monday. Loren Maxwell has lived at his home next to the San Lorenzo River for five years. He says his home has been flooded at least six times during storms similar to what this weekend is expected to bring. “The first year here, I had three feet of water and silt in my basement,” said Maxwell. Past storms have caused major flooding in his backyard. Although he prepares for each storm, the flooding still remains an issue. Friday afternoon, Maxwell set up barriers to protect his propane tank and keep it safe from flood waters. With heavy rain and flooding in the forecast, Santa Cruz County officials are taking every measure necessary to make sure residents are safe. “We have our county sheriff, all of our county, and Cal Fire folks have staffed up and have additional teams, vehicles and personnel that are going to be available all weekend,” said Rosemary Anderson, Emergency Services Manager with the County of Santa Cruz. County officials say that in addition to the emergency plans in place, the public also needs to be ready for whatever the storm may bring. “We haven’t seen rain like this in a long long time and we haven’t seen stream levels like this in a long long time so people should get their property ready,” said Jason Hoppin with the County of Santa Cruz. “Clear their gutters, go to the grocery store, get groceries get batteries get flashlights candles, whatever you need because it might be a long weekend.”