San Luis Obispo County announced a local emergency on Dec. 18 due to extreme weather damages which occurred during the rainstorms throughout the area.
Ron Aslop, the emergency services manager for San Luis Obispo County, said a local proclamation is the first of many steps taken when situations like these occur.
“The local proclamation basically gave us the authority to hire contractors more readily … and also to issue emergency orders and precautionary evacuations,” Aslop said. “It was also a necessary step in order to get the governor to sign off on a state of emergency for the county.”
By declaring the emergency, the governor commits the state to provide resources and assist local public agencies, and also allows for eligible costs to be paid back to the county by the state at 75 percent of what was spent, as stated in the informational guide from the county.”
Kelly Van Buren, the emergency services coordinator for San Luis Obispo County, said this was the initial step in getting financial assistance for the county but in order for homeowners without flood insurance to receive assistance, the state and federal government needed to also declare the situation as an emergency.
Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did declare a state of emergency for San Luis Obispo County on Dec. 21, following the local proclamation.
“The damages throughout the county were too much for (us) to handle, so now we can get help from state personnel,” Aslop said.
The next step is a presidential declaration of emergency.
“FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and state disaster teams will be coming to San Luis Obispo County on the fifth and sixth,” Aslop said. “FEMA will then decide after assessing the damages if the federal disaster declaration is warranted.”
Van Buren said the city of San Luis Obispo did not suffer from much damage during the storm.
Civil engineering junior Scott LaCava said he felt lucky to not have been seriously affected.
“The only thing it did was cause a longer commute from Phoenix to San Luis Obispo,” La Cava said.
Although the city of San Luis Obispo didn’t see much damage, other areas in San Luis Obispo County did. Oceano had the highest population of damage, Van Buren said.
Oceano will most likely be the city in which FEMA will spend most of its time. The city was hit the hardest by the storm, with Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande following.
“There were at least 30 homes flooded in one area, many being in unlivable conditions,” Van Buren said.
LaCava was surprised to hear about the amount of damages throughout the county.
“I would have hoped that the weather was taken into account when the homes were built there,” he said. “As a civil engineer, we learn about things to prevent damages like this and it’s unfortunate that with the precautions that we have, people are still losing homes.”
If FEMA does not declare a federal emergency, Van Buren said it will be the end of the line in trying to receive federal assistance for the people affected.
“There is an appeal process, but I think in this case, that if it does not get approved, I don’t think there will be that much more that we can do (for the people),” she said.