Santa Cruz county Prepares for Another Storm Wave

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) Many residents in the Felton Grove neighborhood no longer want to live in the area after Saturday's storm.

Megan Schwarzbach, has lived in the Felton Grove for three years, and this past weekend it was her first time she experienced severe flooding.

"I don't want to be here anymore," Schwarzbach said.

After this past weekend's storm, Schwarzbach is leaving the neighborhood for good.

"This whole area, this front yard, looked like a lake yesterday. It was completely covered in water, you couldn't get through." said Schwarzbach.

The water came up so high it ended up in Schwarzbach's garage, covering her furniture and photo albums. All of her belongings were destroyed.

The issues from this storm didn't just impact the Felton Grove area.

"Caltrans had to close northbound highway 1 in Santa Cruz," said Kevin Drabinski, Caltrans district 5, public information ffficer. "Where it crosses the San Lorenzo river because trees and debris had come down the channel and had caught up underneath the bridge."

If the debris isn't moved, it's a threat to the bridge itself, not to mention the flooding and additional debris that may come later this week said Drabinski.

100-foot-tall trees were leaning along highway 9 near Felton Grove. Caltrans officials have a plan to tackle down the trees ahead of the next big storm.

"For HWY 9, we need to get tree subcontractors to take care of those 100-foot-tall trees that they're leaning over the roadway up there," said Drabinski. "My understanding, they crane will reaching over and down and picking up those trees and putting them in trucks. And that material will be halled off site."

A full close of northbound Highway 1 will remain in effect through the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 3.