Awash in Mud, Flood, and Tears

Central Coast hit with massive rains and floods, high winds, turbulent seas, all reminiscent of the mega-storm of 1995

By NEIL FARRELL for Morro Bay Life

The big storm of Jan. 8-9 was like déjà vu all over again for many Morro Bay residents, as the “atmospheric river,” El Niño or Pineapple Express — call it what you will — blew into the Central Covast and dumped a torrent of rain, coupled with high winds and turbulent seas, reminiscent of the mega-storm of March 10, 1995.

Big, Big Storm

On Jan. 8-9, a major storm system blew into the Central Coast, indeed the entirety of California, and dumped nearly 5 inches of rain in Morro Bay in a little over 24 hours; this came on top of an already wet winter season.

The storm brought high winds that toppled trees and high surf that at times was reported at 25-30 feet.

The storm wreaked havoc from San Miguel, where a 5-year old boy was swept away and lost, down into Santa Barbara County, which sustained extensive storm damage ranging from washed out roads and mudslides in Montecito to a mudslide in Los Osos and huge sinkholes that opened up in Orcutt and threatened to swallow entire homes.

The storm, which the City of Morro Bay said was equal to a once-in-500-year event, left a swath of devastation and sorrow.

It was as if the March 10, 1995 mega storm had reoccurred, as many of the flooded areas in Morro Bay were also under water in that monster storm that saw 13 inches of rain fall overnight.

Twin Bridges Redux

For over 40 years, South Bay Boulevard, the only direct pathway linking Morro Bay and Los Osos, flooded just about every winter at the infamous “Twin Bridges,” a pair of small wooden bridges spanning Chorro Creek.

In the mid-1990s, and after decades of trying by various government agencies, the City of Morro Bay finally built the Chorro Creek Bridge, raising the road level over 20 feet above the creek.

Insofar as flooding on South Bay is concerned, it’s been smooth sailing ever since despite a couple of close calls over the years, until the stormy skies of Jan. 8-9.

For the first time since Twin Bridges was replaced, Chorro Creek overflowed its banks and inundated South Bay Boulevard at State Park Road, closing South Bay Boulevard completely.

That closure was coupled by a cascade of floodwaters from a swollen San Bernardo Creek that flooded Highway 1 so deep that water was flowing over the top of the concrete center divider, and washing across the eastbound lanes and down onto farmland alongside Quintana Road.

Quintana Road was also closed, and rock slides closed Highway 41 out towards Atascadero. Morro Bay for many hours nearly became an island, with no getting in or out, unless one wanted to brave the storm, drive over the Cuesta Grade all the way to Paso Robles and then over the hill on Highway 46 West, and south on Highway 1.

Morro Creek Flooding

Morro Creek, normally a trickle of water that doesn’t make it all the way to the ocean, became a torrent, washing down trees and debris from upstream, that plugged at the Main Street Bridge.

That blockage caused a major flooding event along Main Street — from Atascadero Road to Radcliff Street. The floodwaters overwhelmed several businesses along that stretch of Main Street (1500-1700 blocks), including Wee Shack, Estero Bay Glass, Morro Bay Antiques, and Central Coast Cart & Scooter. Plus, several people who live in that area also had to be evacuated — some by kayak piloted by volunteers — and had their homes damaged by flooding.

The flooding caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to buildings and inventories, and left a wet, muddy, and very slippery mess that was still being cleaned up over a week later.

The city sent out a notice on Jan. 17 that Main Street from the Highway 1 on/off ramps would be closed from Wednesday to Friday as cleanup work continued in the hardest hit area in town.

And for a bit of comic relief, someone placed several duck decoys — including a big Canada goose — in a little pond that filled in a low spot on Main by Radcliff Street. It was perhaps fitting, as the Winter Bird Festival was slated to run over the MLK Holiday.

South Bay Rescue

According to Cal Fire EMS Battalion Chief Rob Jenkins, rising floodwaters on the Chorro Creek Bridge trapped two vehicles that were bound for Morro Bay.

A man who got trapped in the flood was rescued by another motorist in a pickup, B.C. Jenkins said. The other vehicle, with an 86-year-old woman inside, wasn’t as lucky.

Jenkins said the floodwaters rose so quickly, the truck was unable to go back in to get her.

So Cal Fire brought in a swift water rescue team in a boat, and they were able to reach her. A Coast Guard helicopter flew in to airlift her out of danger and she was ultimately taken to a local hospital.

Quintana Road Submerged

Numerous vehicles parked on Quintana Road at the Bay Pines RV Park, were inundated with water up to the roofs, as the Chorro Flats floodplain overflowed its berm resulting in the entire area around South Bay and Quintana being flooded.

Residents along Chorro Creek Road were hit especially hard as the various creeks that converge in Chorro Valley and flow into Chorro Creek for the final run into the National Estuary.

Homes, outbuildings, farmlands were all overwhelmed by the immense amount of runoff and days later, and with another storm over the Jan. 13-15 holiday weekend looming, there wasn’t much relief in sight for those folks, as their only road in or out was still overflowing with runoff nearly a week after the big storm had passed.

Sewage Spilled

The storm caused sewage to flow out of a manhole on Atascadero Road outside the city’s old sewer treatment plant.

“The area is located in a flood zone with one of the lowest elevation points within the city,” the city said in a news release. “Flooding waters infiltrated into the sewer collection system causing approximately 9,900 gallons of highly diluted sewer water to overflow out of the top of a manhole into Morro Creek.”

Photos of the area during the storm show the intersection with the Embarcadero about 4-feet deep in floodwaters, with several pieces of heavy equipment owned by Anvil Builders in the flood. Anvil is the company installing the new conveyance system for the city’s Water Reclamation Facility Project. It has utilized an area across from the Waste Water Treatment Plant for a materials and gear storage area for over two years now.

Thankfully, the new treatment plant located on a hillside above South Bay Boulevard was working at the time and there was a minimal amount of flow going to the old plant, which was also flooded out. The old WWTP hasn’t been treating sewage since last November, when the new plant started up.

“The recent storm event resulted in the WWTP and the Corporation Yard being inundated with 3-4-feet of stormwater from the flooding of Morro Creek,” the city said.

It should be noted that the city said the sewage spill came from a manhole and not the old treatment plant. The city is working with County Environmental Health and the Regional Water Quality Control Board on the spill.

The flooding on Atascadero Road closed the street for several days while cleanup was underway. The city put out an advisory warning people to stay clear of the area.

WRF Saved the Day

According to the city, it’s a good thing the new WRF treatment plant was up and running or the flooding on Atascadero Road would have been much worse.

“Based on observed water levels preliminary analysis of the flood event that occurred in Morro Creek indicates that flooding exceeded the threshold for a 100-year and may have approached a 500-year flood event,” the city said. “Had the new Water Resource Center not been operational, all of the city’s wastewater at the old WWTP would have been exposed to catastrophic inundation.”

That new treatment plant, which has been under construction since May 2020, came through this first big test.

According to the city, “The WRF readily handled the storm and sewer flows that are normally only 600,000 gallons per day, but increased to approximately 10 times higher, peaking at over 6 million gallons per day.

That huge jump in the flow was caused by sewer collection pipes that have for many years been greatly infiltrated during big storms, flowing into the pipes under pressure from high groundwater levels.

The old collection system, most of which remains in use, is gravity-flow and the new conveyance system, which moves raw sewage from a lift station at the old WWTP on Atascadero Road to the new one, some 3.5 miles away, is a force-fed system and under pressure from the inside.

The WRF plant included extensive storm drainage work too, making use of interior stormwater retention ponds that recycle the rain into the treatment plant, and a large drainage ditch running along the east side of the plant.

Dumpsters, Sand Available

The city said it has placed dumpsters and sand at multiple locations in the city for residents to dispose of ruined belongings and to fill sandbags, because winter isn’t over yet and with the ground now saturated, should another big storm hit, there’s nowhere for the water to go.

Indeed, this area normally sees the majority of its rainfall in February-March. Sand can be found at the City Library parking lot off Shasta Avenue and at the Cloister Park parking lot.

Sandbags can be purchased at Miner’s Hardware or any other hardware store. The city posted a map of the locations for the dumpsters and the sand; see morrobayca.gov/ DocumentCenter/View/17380/Morro-BayDumpster-and-Sand-location-Map.

Some Need Help

Readers who would like to help out the people and businesses affected by the Main Street flooding can call a special number for information.

The city announced that some of the residents and businesses in the Main Street flood area “have requested volunteers to help with the cleanup. If you are interested in volunteering, call: Silver City Mobile Home Park at (805) 772-7478 or (209) 402-0775; or business owner Rob Fraser at (805) 459-1456.”

Help

Promised

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared SLO County a disaster area, one of several counties that were so designated; and over a week after the worst storm hit, President Biden and the federal government declared disasters too, again, only in select counties.

On Jan. 17, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sprang into action following President Joe Biden’s actions for California, and back-dated the disasters to Dec. 27, 2022, and continuing forward.

According to FEMA’s disaster declaration (Nos. 17757 and 17758), only select counties were declared disaster areas: SLO, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz.

FEMA’s declaration is good “for economic injury only” in the counties of Amador, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Placer, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, Ventura, and Yolo.

Deadlines for applying for assistance for “physical damages” is March 16, and the deadline for economic injury claims is Oct. 16. It should be noted that FEMA’s assistance is in the form of loans, not grants, and Uncle Sam expects such loans to be repaid with interest. For information on disaster relief, see fem.a.gov/disaster/4683.

The Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce is also working to assist hard-hit businesses with filing claims for relief.

“We are advocating on behalf of our business community with local, state and federal representatives,” the Chamber said. “Follow the SBA’s social media channels — we have been told that program availability would be announced there first.”

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, a full week after the big storm, Congressman Salud Carbajal, State Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, and SLO County Supervisor Bruce Gibson joined a group of county and city officials and toured the flooded areas in Morro Bay and Los Osos.