Santa Cruz County braces for another high surf event

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION-TV): After all the flooding in Capitola, the big question is what are city and county leaders doing with another wave event hitting the coast Friday night.

Public Works was out all afternoon to put all the sand back on the beach that was pushed out onto the road from the powerful waves. Many of the businesses were closed at the Esplanade because of this clean up.

Capitola City leader want shop owners to be prepared for more waves on the way.

“There's still sandbags available to them, there's sandbags at city hall right now in preparation of another storm or high surf event.” said Yvette Brooks, Vice Mayor of Capitola.

The city said their concern will be a potential for evacuations if the surf gets bad again. Staff will be monitoring the conditions and will make proper notifications based on the circumstances.

And not only is the city preparing for more waves, the county is too.

“We’re coordinating with jurisdictions to asses the damage from the wave event and we’re expecting another one overnight.” said Jason Hoppin, Santa Cruz County Public Information Officer.

Hoppin said the county suffered damage to coastal access areas and the Capitola wharf also saw damage along with the businesses. The county said it's too early to tell if they can get help on a federal level.

“To get federal aid, you need to get a certain threshold and at this time the damage seems relatively minor.” said Hoppin.

County leaders said they're still assessing the damage, but in order to get FEMA, local, state and federal governments would need to declare a major disaster.