First public meeting in Prunedale since storms badly battered area

There was a packed house at Prunedale Grange Hall Monday where a community meeting was hosted by County Supervisor John Phillips.

This was the first public meeting since winter storms badly battered the area.

“We’ve never had so much rain in the 28 years that we’ve lived in Prunedale,” said Gayle Comer with Hidden Hills Ranch, a non-profit organization that teaches children about animals.

“(Trees) affected our road, took down power lines,” said Comer. “We were without power, like many others, for many days. We lost some animals. It’s just been a rough, long winter.”

Gayle and Mark Comer said they have had at least $100,000 in damages and they aren’t alone. One neighbor said she has about $10,000 in damages. Another said she was out $6,000 from costs associated with power outages.

Storm damage and how to pay for it was discussed at the meeting where the county talked about federal loans from the U.S Small Business Administration .

“They aren’t giving away free money, but they are giving away low interest loans. The interest rate can be as low as 2 percent on up to 6 percent,” said Gerry Malais with the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services.

The SBA loan is the only federal disaster assistance available to individuals and businesses, which is a problem for those worried about repaying a loan.

“I will say they each person that applies qualifies under their own merit,” said Malais.

FEMA will help pay the more than $50 million in damages to public infrastructure.

“The trouble with FEMA is that you’ve got to spend the money before you get reimbursed for it and so we’ve put in FEMA applications for the storm that we had,” said Phillips.