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.
