Biden approves disaster aid for California counties battered by storms — but not SLO County
President Joe Biden approved federal funding for three California counties hit hard by a series of severe storms — but San Luis Obispo County wasn’t on the list.
The White House’s Major Disaster Declaration on Jan. 14 provides financial help for residents in the counties of Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz, areas devastated by flooding, mudslides and landslides.
“Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” the declaration read.
According to the White House, additional counties may be included once storm conditions allow officials to safely assess the extent of the damage.
San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson said the declaration “is the key that will unlock funds for individual homeowners and small businesses.”
Officials tour storm damage in SLO County
On Jan. 14, Gibson participated in a briefing in Paso Robles followed by a tour of storm-damaged spots in San Luis Obispo County, along with U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, state Sen. John Laird, California State Assemblywoman Dawn Addis and representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services. SLO County Supervisor John Peschong also participated.
“To have all three of them so engaged is really wonderful,” Gibson said of Addis, Laird and Panetta.
On Jan. 14, Laird reacted to seeing “first-hand the devastating impacts of recent and ongoing storms.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said Jan. 14 via Facebook Messenger. “Many have lost their homes and otherwise experienced great personal and financial loss.”
He advised those impacted to carefully “document any damages and remain diligent on protecting your family, property, and community as rains persist.”
Laird said he will work with his colleagues in the California State Senate as well as Addis, members of Congress and the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to “help direct federal and state emergency funding to impacted local governments and others in need.”
Federal funding sought for recovery efforts
Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, and U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, have also been involved in efforts to secure federal funding for the Central Coast for storm recovery efforts.
After Biden declared a federal emergency on Jan. 8 for 17 California counties, the two Central Coast Congressmen wrote a letter to Biden, urging him to declare a state of emergency in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Their efforts worked.
On Jan. 9, Biden declared a federal emergency for 14 more California counties — including San Luis Obispo County.
The federal declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide assistance to the county “to save lives and protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen the threat or avert the threat of a catastrophe,” Biden’s declaration said.
The emergency declaration frees up to $5 million in federal assistance to alleviate the storm’s impacts on California.
Carbajal and Panetta then joined 48 other congressional members in urging the president to elevate his earlier action into a full major disaster declaration, which Biden did on Saturday.
“The significance of a major disaster declaration ... is that it will bring critical federal recovery dollars to homeowners and businesses who’ve been devastated by these historic storms,” Addis explained via email.
“It’s important that residents who’ve seen damage to their homes and businesses report this damage to your county,” she wrote. “Each county reports the cumulative damage to the state, which helps California make its case to the federal government that recovery dollars are needed here.”
At the Jan. 14 briefing, Peschong said officials have “had a discussion about all the different forms people will have to fill out to get some aid to repair the damages.”
The federal, state, county and local governments are working together on that, Gibson said. “We’re pushing from the bottom and they’re pulling from the top.”
For now, officials want to establish “a consolidated place where we can explain what all the paperwork is for,” he said. “It’s important. It’s how they’ll get connected with the aid.”
Flooding, road damage
While not all sections of San Luis Obispo County received the same amount of flooding and other storm damage, no area escaped unscathed, Gibson said.
“Those who have been very deeply affected, their lives have been turned upside down,” he said. “They’re seriously harmed.”
Floodwaters damaged “40 or 50 homes in Santa Margarita” and 20 homes in Los Osos, among other areas, Gibson said. An evacuation order for that Los Osos neighborhood put in place on Saturday was lifted Sunday.
“The Los Osos recovery process will be tedious, to be polite,” Gibson said.
Peschong also spoke about the widespread destruction evident in SLO County, including flooding at a Highway 101 underpass and damage to the Nacimiento pipeline outside of Paso Robles.
He also mentioned the collapse of a major culvert on Chimney Rock Road that required a prolonged road closure, meaning that residents couldn’t use their only route out of the remote area.
During the tour, Peschong said, “We went by car to the Templeton sewer treatment plant and percolation ponds that were flooded because the river was so high …”
He said the “a big cleanup will have to happen before summer.”
Laird said that local organizations “are working overtime to support the most vulnerable members of the community,” including homeless residents.
He noted that the San Luis Obispo Community Foundation has activated its disaster support fund. For details, go to cfsloco.org.
This story was originally published January 15, 2023 at 1:09 PM.
