Coverage of the storms that hit Santa Cruz County in January 2023 and the cleanup and recovery efforts that have followed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom in March said state relief would soon help flood victims who don’t qualify for federal emergency...

The Santa Cruz City Council directed staff to move forward with developing a vision for West Cliff Drive as it faces...
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Santa Cruz County Storm ForumStay tuned for event details.
Storm Recovery Updates

Monterey County officials said the Pajaro River breached around midnight Friday about 3 miles upstream from Pajaro,...

The wet weather has delayed the plans to reopen Highway 9 in the Ben Lomond area on Saturday. Crews have not been able...

For nearly two months, dozens of Caltrans crew members have tirelessly worked in the Santa Cruz Mountains to reopen even...

The pier that has connected the SS Palo Alto — aka the Cement Ship — to the shore at Seacliff State Beach will be...

Closed for more than a month by a mudslide between lower Glen Arbor Road and Holiday Lane in Ben Lomond, Highway 9...

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors recently approved the latest Water Resources Status Report, and while the...

January’s storms have delayed work on Highway 1 and the Coastal Rail Trail, while roads, walkways, bridges and more...

It’s a mix of immediate and long-term fixes for the San Lorenzo Valley Water District as it continues to struggle with...

If anyone knows what goes into calculating the cost of natural disasters, it’s Adam Smith, an applied climatologist with...

The timelines vary for Capitola Village restaurants’ reopening, but the work is under way, and some look to open within...

The Community Foundation Santa Cruz County issued $100,000 in small business grants to food service businesses that have...

Still waiting for $68 million in FEMA reimbursements from the pandemic and CZU fire, Santa Cruz County has had to take...
Santa Cruz Storm Coverage
Cul-de-sacs and long-term erosion: Citizens, city staff take up gnarly issues of ‘saving West Cliff’
Cul-de-sacs and long-term erosion: Citizens, city staff take up gnarly issues of ‘saving West Cliff’

The City of Santa Cruz’s first in-person community meeting about the future of West Cliff Drive on Thursday showed some...

The City of Santa Cruz will host a community meeting Thursday about the status of West Cliff Drive repairs and the...

The crew manning the Santa Cruz Harbor dredge was tasked with keeping the harbor mouth clear from excessive storm debris...

A stretch of West Cliff Drive between Woodrow Avenue and Columbia Street was converted to one-way in January. Since...

The Newell Creek pipeline connects the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant to the Loch Lomond Reservoir, the main water...

Santa Cruzans could soon see West Cliff Drive become a one-way street all the way from Bay Street to Woodrow Avenue as...

Even as politicians from President Joe Biden on down flocked to tour storm-ravaged areas of Santa Cruz County, Fred...

Santa Cruz citizens and neighbors are summoning new energy and vision to “Save West Cliff.” The iconic 2.7-mile...

The city has finished emergency repairs to West Cliff Drive and the San Lorenzo River levee. As design plans for final...

Evan Morrison’s four-month-old Santa Cruz Free Guide, which has been running the Safe RV Parking program at the Armory,...

West Cliff Drive took the brunt of the damage within the City of Santa Cruz, which means that it will be the main focus...

Storm Central keeps you updated as we watch, wait and assess. Check back here as Lookout correspondents reach out across...
Mid-County Storm Coverage

Taylor Reinhold, leader of Made Fresh Crew and the director of the landmark “Sea Walls” murals project in Santa Cruz,...

“We had a small budget to work with so we had to do a lot of our own work,” owner Dominick King said of getting My Thai...

After getting pounded inside and out by storm surge in January, Zelda’s on the Beach is back seven days a week at its...

“When a disaster comes, chefs have a great opportunity to step up and help out the community,” Anthony Kresge said of...

Chuck Hammers, owner of Pizza My Heart, got an inside view of our government last week, when he sat near Jill Biden,...

After wowing Santa Cruz County audiences just before January’s storm barrage hit, Mendocino-based Flynn Creek Circus is...

Santa Cruz County was so worried about damaging floods harming the Old Mill Estates mobile home park that a 1990 master...

Are you really from Santa Cruz County if you don’t have at least one Pizza My Heart tee? The chain’s latest is part of...

With more than 100 employees unable to return to work due to prolonged restaurant closures, chefs from Reef Dog Deli,...

The president, notorious for his love of ice cream, did indeed sample a Santa Cruz favorite, and his team also chowed...
South County Storm Coverage

As of Friday, 17 people remained at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds shelter that opened to accommodate residents...

The Pajaro River levee breach caused extensive water damage to all 10 of Pajaro Middle School’s buildings, including...

More aid to the residents of Pajaro is being patched together, but the gaps in help and communication are complicating...

Watsonville resident Takashi Mizuno is worried about his neighbors in Pajaro, many of whom lost everything to the storms...

Isabelle Tuncer, executive director of nonprofit organization El Sistema Santa Cruz, spoke with Lookout about being...

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Jimmy Panetta visited the banks of the Pajaro River on Wednesday in an effort to get the...

Eloy Ortiz, special-projects manager for Regeneración Pajaro Valley Climate Action, has tried to help farmworkers and...

More than 400 students from Pajaro Middle School are now learning in makeshift classroom setups at Watsonville’s...

Close to 200 people marched through Pajaro on Thursday to the bridge separating the Monterey County agricultural town...

The failure of the Pajaro River levee on March 11, putting 33,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings and...

Watsonville’s Fruition Brewing will be the scene Sunday as Pajaro Valley Pride puts on a drag and burlesque show as part...

In this edition of In the Public Interest, Christopher Neely outlines some of the many challenges facing Pajaro after...
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Santa Cruz Mountains Storm Coverage

The closure about 7 miles north of Boulder Creek is due to road settlement of temporary repairs made to Highway 236...

A half-mile section of Highway 9 hasn’t seen two-way traffic since it was struck by a New Year’s Eve landslide. Crews...

The March 21 wind event that “sounded like death” left homes and property damaged throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains,...

Road closures and power outages have been a near-constant fact of life in the San Lorenzo Valley since the parade of...

Caltrans says crews are working to clear mudslides and repair storm damage to Highway 9 in the Ben Lomond area and...

The power went out in Felton during storms that hit the community around 1 a.m. on Jan. 8. Pacific Gas & Electric crews...

Daniel DeLong lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where packing a chainsaw is often just part of mountain life. His young...

Just days after a first New Year’s Eve storm rendered Lompico resident Benjamin Short’s home uninhabitable, his...

“First thing is to do your best to dry out your property and stabilize it. Be safe, and recognize that most people are...

No, Abe Lincoln never got to fulfill his wish to visit Santa Cruz, but Benjamin Harrison and Teddy Roosevelt, marveling...

Lookout wants to hear stories about Santa Cruz County residents helping each other during the storm siege that began New...
