Gov. Newsom tours flooded areas of Merced County, as Biden approves federal relief
Gov. Gavin Newsom met with local officials Saturday and toured some of the worst affected areas of Merced County, days after floods ripped through the community of Planada and part of the City of Merced.
Newsom also made a public appeal to President Joe Biden for a major disaster declaration for Merced County and other state areas that have been impacted following rainstorms that pummeled Northern California.
That appeal to Biden was granted not long after Newsom spoke at the Merced County Fairground on Saturday afternoon, where officials have set up a shelter for those forced from their homes.
Newsom and other elected officials thanked the community for coming together to help those in need, including donations of food and clothing.
“I cannot impress on you enough that we will get through this and come out the other side more resilient,” Newsom said.
With more rain expected, county officials are also keeping a close watch on a swollen Bear Creek that cuts through the city.
Merced City Manager Stephanie Dietz said crews have been working round the clock to shore up weak spots in the levee that runs parallel to the creek.
“When the water receded we observed cracks in the structure of the levee so we mobilized a team to take care of it,” Dietz said.
Early Saturday, a “wall of water” burst through a section of the levee flooding homes and stranding eight horses and a dog, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said.
At its peak, Dietz said the creek that runs through the city reached 26.5 feet last week. Normally, 23 feet is considered a critical stage.
Dietz also reminds residents that evacuations are still possible.
“We can’t predict what may happen, or may not happen,” she said. “But we want the community to be prepared.”
The city posts evacuation warnings on its website www.cityofmerced.org.
One of the areas devastated by flood water is Planada, a community nine miles east of Merced. It’s 4,000 residents fled their homes on Tuesday as rising flood water invaded their homes.
Anna Ramirez woke up at 1:30 a.m. to the sound of water sloshing inside her home.
“It was chaos,” she said. “We lost everything.”
Ramirez said she and her family, including her husband, daughter and two grandchildren, had just moved into the home two months ago. She still had boxes in the garage that she hadn’t unpacked.
She went back recently and found very little salvageable.
“I just sat on an old tire and cried,” she said.
She and her husband have been staying at the evacuation center set up at the fairgrounds for four days. And she is grateful. Displaced residents are provided with shelter, food and clothing.
Representatives from social service agencies are also on site to help residents relocate or find temporary housing.
“This has been hard on all of us, but we can’t thank everyone enough for the help they have given us,” she said.
State Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, also surveyed the damaged areas and pushed the governor for the major disaster declaration as well as assistance for displaced students and their schools.
Soria also wanted to make sure that state and local agencies work hard to connect with those in need.
“There are a lot of folks who are farmworkers, who are low income, or who are scared to access resources,” Soria said. “We are here to tell them they are entitled to those resources.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2023 at 4:02 PM.
