On December 30 and 31, 2022, Monterey County (“County”) and the City of Carmel by-the-Sea (“City”), experienced a major rain event (the “2022-23 Atmospheric River Winter Storm”). As a result of the 2022-23 Atmospheric River Winter Storm, major flooding in the County and the City caused damage to public and private property. Damage to public infrastructure has included localized flooding, roadway slope erosion and embankment slip-outs, debris flows, landslides, and culvert failure affecting the safety of said roadways; obstruction of public roadways from stormwater, storm debris, fallen trees, and roadway failure; damage to storm drain infrastructure; and damage to public and private utilities and damage to public facilities and parks throughout the County and in the City.
On January 4, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in response to severe winter storms that relate to a series of atmospheric river systems that struck California in December 2022, and are forecasted to continue.
On January 4, 2023, Interim County Administrative Officer of the County proclaimed the existence of a local emergency on January 4, 2023, and the Board of Supervisors of the County adopted a resolution ratifying the proclamation of a local emergency.
On January 13, 2023, based on the events described above, Chip Rerig (City Administrator of the City and the Director of Emergency Services of the City) issued a Proclamation of Existence of a Local Emergency by the City Administrator.
On January 17, 2023, Council adopted Resolution 2023-008 Ratifying the Proclamation of the existence of a local emergency due to the 2022- 2023 Atmospheric River Winter Storm Event.
Current Situation
On January 14, 2023, President Joe Biden declared that a major disaster exists in the State of California and ordered Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning on December 27, 2022, and continuing. The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz. On January 17, Monterey County was added to the list of affected counties.
State and local teams have begun and continue to conduct damage assessments in areas of the county impacted by flooding, including Carmel River State Beach, where the beach access parking lot was buried in sand and a large portion of Scenic Drive was damaged. Both the parking lot and the southern end of Scenic Drive remains closed due to these damages. Officials with Monterey County are continuing to gather damage information caused by the 2023 Winter Storm countywide. The last estimate of damages caused by the storm is nearly $80 million.
The true extent of the damage caused by the 2022-23 Atmospheric River Winter Storm and cost of damages to Carmel-by-the-Sea has yet to be ascertained. Soil conditions in the City remain saturated as a result of the 2022-23 Winter Storm increase the likelihood of further damage from earth slippage events, including the potential for flooding. City Staff is currently working on storm recovery and will continue for the next several months.
Conclusion
Per Resolution 2023-008, the local emergency due to the Winter Storms shall be deemed to continue to exist and shall be reviewed at least once every 30 days until its termination is proclaimed by the City Council of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea per California Government Code section 8630. By adopting the attached Resolution, (Attachment 1) the declaration of the local emergency due to the Winter Storm Event will be renewed for another 30 days.