Santa Cruz County patching up before and after the storm

Santa Cruz County Public Works staff had to be on high alert the last few weeks as they’ve had to manage clean-up operations following a batch of storms.

One of those operations included preparation for snowfall up north on Highway 17.

This time around they’ll go back to preparing for something a little more normal for the area–rainfall.

The next batch of rain is set to have a thunderstorm attached to it as well and is expected to hit the Central Coast on Friday.

“Damage from the recent storms in the City of Santa Cruz was minimal,” says Santa Cruz Flood Control Manager, Rome Norman. “Our backup generators are inspected weekly and tested so we’re ready.”

Public Works crew members with Santa Cruz County, meanwhile, are watching over culverts in the county, especially after the recent storm.

Culverts plugged up on Soquel Drive from Fairway Drive to Park Avenue resulting in a flash flood in the area.

“It ended up overflowing down the road affecting people on Monterey Avenue among other locations,” says Roads Superintendent for Santa Cruz County Public Works, Vance Wagner.

Crews spent last weekend and all of this week double-checking culverts to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen during heavy rainfall.

“When we get a storm event where you get a lot of rain in a short time,” says Wagner. “Most of our systems aren’t equipped to take that high of flow.”

Wagner also says there are some locations where high water creeks caused some road damage which the county is trying to do temporary repairs on.

Some delays are involved as rain periodically pops up on the weather radar this winter.

City and County staff urge anyone who see downed powerlines or trees as well as flooding to dial emergency service crews immediately.