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JANUARY 20

Rains of ‘Biblical proportions’ begin

Firefighters Travis Thompson and Jeremy Day fill sandbags at the Cal Fire station on Hwy 76 Monday.

Rain of “Biblical proportions” are expected this week in Valley Center and especially in the mountains.
Rains started Monday and are expected to continue to Friday and beyond, with snow expected on Palomar Mountain by the weekend or earlier. On Monday more than an inch of rain fell.
Valley Center Fire Marshal and Palomar Mountain Fire Chief George Lucia warned that mountain residents should be prepared for possible closings of both roads leading up to the small community, including S-6 and S-7.
“People should be stocked with food and water for possibly a week as you never know when the roads might be washed out or blocked with rocks,” said Lucia over the weekend.
Rockslides and mud happened a few times two years ago when there were heavy rains after the wildfires.
But even eight inches of rain in a few days is a lot of water to fall in the valleys, so Valley Center and Pauma Valley residents are advised to be careful.
The Arizona crossing on Cole Grade Road near Pauma School is very likely to flood, so motorists should approach it with caution, and avoid crossing it if the Dept. of Public Works (DPW) puts a road block there.
Both fire stations in Valley Center that were offering free sandbags to residents were getting swamped over the weekend and Monday, although both were trying to keep up with the demand.
Michael Drake, public affairs officer for DPW, told The Roadrunner on Monday, “I know that there has been a tremendous demand, especially with the County encouraging everyone to take advantage of the free bags and sand and protect their private property against erosion.”
Drake said the County is trying to keep fire stations supplied, but from time to time they run out.
At presstime we have no idea whether the following locations will have sand bags, so check our Web site frequently for updates: www.valleycenter.com/
Locations that are SUPPOSED to have sandbags when you visit them are:
• Station 72 (28205 North Lake Wohlford Rd., Valley Center), next to the Sheriff's substation. Call 760-751-7605 to confirm.
• The Cal Fire Station 70 at 16971 Highway 76 in Pauma Valley. Call ahead at 760-742-3243.
Bring your own shovels.
The Pala fire station has sandbags available for Pala residents only.
Some local businesses have the bags, although you have to pay for them:
Grangetto's - $.25 a bag.
A1 Irrigation - poly—$.45
burlap—$.59
w/sand— $3.19
VC Materials—$.50
w/sand— $2.00
Wallace Hardware is out of bags until Jan. 22.
* * *
On Monday night the first road closure occurred about 5:30 p.m. when Hwy 76 was closed for a time at Rincon Rancho Road. Later the road was cleared of debris enough for traffic to resume.
There were numerous mudslides up S-6 that DPW cleared, but which will almost certainly return with more rain.
If you see a tree or other obstruction on a county road, call the county operations office at 877-684-8000. The after-hours or holiday emergency number is 888-565-5262.
Or call the VC Road crew directly at 760-749-0521.
Issues can also be reported via the department’s Web site: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/dpw/roads (click on “roads home,” then on the Service Request Form link in the middle of the page next to the photo. These messages are immediately delivered to the DPW service desk.

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