Several residents of Soquel Wharf Road told Lookout they had no warning from local officials that Soquel Creek would flood in last weekend’s storms, leaving them without time to protect their homes. “It’s kind of like the wild wild west out here right now,” one resident said. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig said the National Weather Service assured the county three times that the creek was not at risk of flooding.
Coast Life
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A shot of tequila while you sandbag? In Soquel Village, a community comes together during the storm
As the flooded Soquel Creek threatened local restaurant Tortilla Flats, strangers stopped in to see if they could offer sandbags or help shovel sand into them; next-door business owners who rarely strayed over came to check in. The word “village” in Soquel Village was suddenly taking on new meaning.
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As ‘Pineapple Express’ morphs into ‘bomb cyclone,’ how do we make new sense of our relationship with water?
In California’s disaster mythology, the winter storm doesn’t carry the mystique of the earthquake and the wildfire. At the heart of the wet apocalypse is a great irony, that so many of us are in Santa Cruz exactly because of a deep and abiding love of water.
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‘I have never seen anything this dramatic’: Santa Cruz’s most-tenured ocean observer in awe of storm damage
“This storm is going to show we need to make decisions,” said UC Santa Cruz scientist Gary Griggs, who has observed the coast for more than 50 years. The storm caused parts of West Cliff Drive to completely collapse onto the shore leaving gaping holes – in one spot up to 20 feet long – where people walked just a day before.
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Santa Cruz County Storms: Where we stand on Sunday
Another storm moved through Santa Cruz County overnight, bringing heavy rain and high winds. There is more on the way. A second system is expected to move in Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon, bringing heavy rain through Monday. The storm is expected to drop 3-5 inches of rain across the Monterey Bay and up to nine inches at the highest peaks.
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Santa Cruz Wharf evacuated, portions of West Cliff Drive closed as storm batters Central California coast
Police and firefighters closed and evacuated the Santa Cruz Wharf on Thursday as high waves that followed behind Wednesday’s atmospheric river threatened public safety. In Santa Cruz, West Cliff Drive between Pelton and Almar was closed as waves washed over the area, sending large rocks onto the roadway.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Watch: The Cement Ship’s losing battle against a raging ocean at Seacliff State Beach
‘It’s the flats and it’s famous for flooding,” said one longtime Rio Del Mar resident who had been evacuated from the…
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Capitola Wharf taking a beating, Esplanade taking on water
The worst of possibilities, a massive swell peaking just as the tide was at its highest, may have been avoided in Capitola. But the wharf and Village were still under siege from an angry Pacific Ocean as city workers made efforts to minimize the damage.
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Where we stand on Thursday evening: Storm damage and up 5 more inches of rain coming in next 2 storms
As of Thursday, Rio del Mar and the mouth of Pajaro River have flooded, strong high tide swells have wrecked the Seacliff pier and overwhelmed Santa Cruz’s West Cliff Drive, forcing partial closure of road and an evacuation of the wharf. Across the county, at least 23 roads are closed. And while this storm has mostly subsided, two more storms will hit Santa Cruz County between Thursday and Monday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Unsung Santa Cruz: With a name like Strongheart, showing other vulnerable youth how to thrive comes naturally
It’s been a decade since Ooli Strongheart, then 15, found a safe haven for transition-age youth (TAY) that helped fill in many of the missing gaps from a childhood devoid of love and support, filled with trauma and fear. Soon to be a UC Santa Cruz graduate, the former foster and homeless youth is passionate about giving back to the program — now aptly known as the ‘Thrive Hive’ — that has helped them recognize their purpose and potential in this world.