Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters after meeting Merced County authorities and visiting with residents affected by flooding during a stop at the Merced County Fairgrounds on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. Credit: Michelle Morgante/CVJC
By ESTHER QUINTANILLA/KVPR and MICHELLE MORGANTE/CVJC
Jan. 13, 2023
MERCED (KVPR/CVJC) — After experiencing a paralyzing week of storms and flooded communities, Merced County got a visit from Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday where he issued renewed caution to residents to stay vigilant as new storms passed through.
Since just before the new year, California has endured one atmospheric river storm after another that have, together, dropped trillions of gallons of water onto the state. Newsom signaled the potentially final storm was still approaching, but that already much damage had been done to communities up and down the state.
He met with disaster relief volunteers and local families taking shelter from flooded homes at the Merced County Fairgrounds. Newsom said the storms present a larger task of addressing the impact climate disasters are having on the state.
“I met a young lady with four young kids and whose husband’s back is so bad that he can’t work. And they don’t have any other family in the region, no other place to go. This was the only place of solace,” Newsom said. “We’re mindful of the work to do over the course of the next weeks, and many months and, yes, years as we future-proof this region – future-proof Merced County.”
Residents in Merced and nearby communities used a break in the weather a day before Newsom’s visit to clean up from flooding but also stock up on supplies and sand bags.
Storm’s impact in region unexpected
In Planada, an unincorporated community east of Merced that had been completely flooded Tuesday, law enforcement officials earlier in the week blocked roads and escorted residents who needed to collect essential items such as medication, important documents and even pets.
The town of 4,000 is perhaps one of the most affected places so far after flooding from a breached levee forced an evacuation order for all residents before dawn Tuesday.
Hundreds found shelter at the Merced County Fairgrounds.
Flooding in the small Merced County community of Planada reached up to five feet in some areas after an atmospheric river brought heavy rain to the state. Credit: Esther Quintanilla/KVPR
Merced County Sheriff Deputy Alexandra Britton said water reached up to 5 feet and water entered people’s homes.
“We had to use boats to rescue people,” she said.
State Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria and State Senator Anna Caballero toured small towns like Newman, Gustine and Planada on Friday.
The two also joined Newsom on Saturday. They addressed residents in the county – like farmworkers, low-income people, and medically-uninsured residents – who may be afraid or hesitant to seek support from the storm’s impacts, and said everyone should feel entitled to seek help.
“People’s lives have been affected in a way that none of us would’ve predicted earlier in the month,” Caballero told reporters Saturday.
Caballero emphasized the task that is now placed in front of residents of cleaning up and returning their lives back to normal. She said she is working with Soria and Newsom to ensure state resources make it to the region, and to the most-affected communities and residents.
“You heard that there are school children that need to be able to go back to school and their school is flooded. You heard that there are homes that have been tremendously impacted and they need to be cleaned up,” Caballero said.
Danger still present
People living along Bear Creek, a normally picturesque waterway winding through the heart of Merced, were warned to be ready to evacuate and to stay away from banks at risk of dislodging and erosion.
On Saturday, crews worked to reinforce the banks of the streams as the storm caused stress along its edges.
“The creek is extremely hazardous during heavy rainfall events, and all residents are advised to avoid the bike path, creek bank and fast-moving water,” city leaders warned in a statement Friday.
Merced resident Rosary Medlin said she and her neighbors received an evacuation warning this week as the water level reached a historic level of 26 feet early Tuesday.
“To see that [the creek] almost got overflowed and houses could have been destroyed is crazy,” Medlin said Thursday, as the creek flowed with brown water.
“I love this place. I love it. It’s peaceful,” she said.
To the north, officials advised people to avoid flooded areas around the City of Atwater, where a video shared by Merced County Thursday showed inundated streets, homes and fields.
The sheriff’s office said authorities met Friday with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state Office of Emergency Services and the U.S. Small Business Administration who visited county locations impacted by severe flooding.
Esther Quintanilla is a reporter at KVPR and Michelle Morgante is editor in chief for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a nonprofit newsroom based in Merced.
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