Santa Cruz County “not out of the woods yet” with rainfall expected to continue

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz County officials say residents should still be on alert despite the first night of storms being "relatively quiet" in terms of emergency calls.

During a conference call Wednesday, the National Weather Service said things aren't necessarily "better" in terms of weather conditions, just that the storms from overnight have simply taken a break.

Officials say they continue to monitor debris flow concerns throughout the CZU Lightning Complex burn scar and expect to keep evacuation orders in place for residents living in those areas.

"I just can't stress more that you must be aware of the weather situation and know your options," says Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Chris Clark. "Know how to get out and how things can change there. Tree can fall over a road you can get trapped."

It's those residences that could be most impacted by a debris flow event should rainfall become to overwhelming for the region.

And that concern might be warranted, as on Wednesday CalFire says there is evidence of "movement of some land" in the Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek Area.

When asked for a location of this evidence, CalFire said they were evaluating potential slides on Jamison Creek Road off Highway 236 and halfway up Alba Road near Stoddard.

CalFire says they have a geologist who is surveying those areas to collect further evidence.

As far as the overnight effort is concerned, officials on the call with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and CalFire say it was a relatively quiet night with few trees going down throughout the county. A couple of which may have struck a couple of structures.

A current closure at Smith Grade is due to wires being down. There were also scattered reports about rocks and boulders falling into roads.

The sheriff's office says they didn't see suspicious person/activity calls or reports of burglaries.

Deputies will continue working in the San Lorenzo Valley area to answer any calls for service.

As far as when evacuations could be lifted, the county says they don't anticipate further evacuation order or warning areas.

The San Lorenzo Valley evacuation center in Felton is expected to stay open as it has received the most individuals needing assistance.