“You go to sleep living one life, then you wake up living another,” says one Pajaro resident whose family of seven has been in limbo since the March floods. While they’ve received help from FEMA and local agencies, the high cost of living and the uneven post-flood response has them confused and worried.
Pajaro River levee
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Piecemeal approach to Pajaro aid leaves farmworkers, community straining to move forward
More aid to the residents of Pajaro is being patched together, but the gaps in help and communication are complicating post-flood recovery efforts. More than 100 people remain at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds shelter as Pajaro evacuees have scattered throughout the area, seeking temporary housing. Meanwhile, many farmworkers’ jobs are in limbo as the flooded fields prevent work and have caused almost $50 million in farm loss, says Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau president Dennis Webb.
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Padilla, Panetta promise to ‘pressure’ pace of Pajaro levee project
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Jimmy Panetta visited the banks of the Pajaro River on Wednesday in an effort to get the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moving faster on not only repairs to the levee whose failure flooded the town of Pajaro in March but also the long-promised levee overhaul. The Corps is aiming to finish emergency repairs by the fall, and to break ground on a long-promised $400 million upgrade by summer 2024.
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How a Pajaro Middle School teacher and her students are navigating recovery after Pajaro River levee breach
More than 400 students from Pajaro Middle School are now learning in makeshift classroom setups at Watsonville’s Lakeview Middle after their school flooded in March. “I find myself just feeling guilty that I’m trying to make the situation feel normal,” said Ebelin Mata, who teaches sixth and seventh graders. “When it’s not.”
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Newsom asks Biden to declare a major disaster in Santa Cruz, Monterey counties and others
The failure of the Pajaro River levee on March 11, putting 33,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings and flooding a largely low-income farmworker community, offered yet another generational disaster for the Central Coast this winter.
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In the Public Interest: Local officials turn up heat on Newsom, Biden over relief, recovery in Pajaro
In this edition of In the Public Interest, Christopher Neely outlines some of the many challenges facing Pajaro after the catastrophic flooding that followed the failure of the Pajaro River levee and what elected officials from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties are doing to get heard in Sacramento and Washington.
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Pajaro residents begin to return home, almost two weeks after floods devastated community
Muddy, damaged homes greeted those returning Thursday to Pajaro after Monterey County officials lifted an evacuation order in place since the March 11 levee breach flooded the agricultural community. It’s not clear when the water will be safe to drink again, and a long cleanup process lies ahead.
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In Pajaro, children and teens grapple with displacement after flooding
After a flood struck Pajaro, children have been displaced, with families living out of cars, sleeping in emergency shelters or moving out of Monterey County to stay with relatives.
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How a long history of racism and neglect set the stage for Pajaro flooding
Founded as a labor camp for agricultural workers, the small community of Pajaro has long languished in the shadow of nearby Watsonville.
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Growers and farmworkers face long recovery process following Pajaro floods
It’s been just over a week since a levee along the Pajaro River failed, flooding the town of Pajaro and much of the nearby farmland in north Monterey County, just over the river from Santa Cruz County. Though the full picture of damage sustained is unclear at this point, farmers and workers alike face short-term uncertainty and a long-term recovery.
