We knew the storm damage on the Peninsula was bad — now San Mateo County supervisors say it's a full blown state of emergency.
With millions in damage done, the supervisors made that official declaration just hours ago. The supervisors saw a short but detailed report on the storm damage and saw some images of the flooding, prompting them to take a first step towards making some repairs.
At the Belmont mobile home park that flooded in last week’s storm, most residents are trying to dry out.
“I’ve been here for four years and I haven’t seen anything quite as bad as that,” said. “It got inside of my place,” said Randell Chavez. “The water kind of got inside my place.”
Friday’s new rain also brought new problems, a large oak tree fell. The storm damage is now estimated at more than $3 million across the county.
“The most severe impact can be seen in some trailer homes in Redwood City and Belmont,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine. “Flooding was also seen in Pescadero, San Bruno and South San Francisco.”
County of San Mateo Board of Supervisors vote to proclaim a state of emergency due to storm damage #sanmateocounty http://t.co/Nyum2VEuva — County of San Mateo (@sanmateoco) December 20, 2014
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Now the Board of Supervisors is voting to declare a local state of emergency to help fund the cleanup.
“What is does is makes the county of San Mateo eligible for state and federal funds should those authorities also declare an emergency,” Pine said.
In the aftermath, there was a large emergency response, extra resources.
“We put all of that into the proclamation and hope that our residents are assisted and public infrastructure as well,” said Supervisor Don Horsly.
Neighbors are hopeful it will free up money to prevent future problems.
