President Biden approves federal disaster declaration for Central Coast Region Saturday

CENTRAL COAST REGION, Calif. – On Saturday, President Biden approved a federal disaster declaration for all three counties along the Central Coast Region as part of the recovery from notable storms at the beginning of this year.

The declaration unlocks public assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for state, local, and tribal governments in the impacted areas.

"I am grateful to President Biden and his administration for recognizing the severity of the storms that the Central Coast faced this winter and approving our request for additional federal support," said Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal. "My team and I will work with our federal, state, and local partners to ensure these additional resources can be used to perform the repairs needed to fully repair our region."

The counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura join Butte, Glenn, Los Angeles, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Sutter as part of the federal disaster declaration.

Clean-up efforts as well as hazard reduction measures are eligible for federal funding following Saturday's declaration detail the federal declaration.

According to the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services, initial damage estimates for storm-related damages across San Luis Obispo County are approximately $700,000.

"This declaration will allow our county to recover more quickly," explains County Director of Emergency Services, Scott Jalbert.  "County OES will be reaching out to and coordinating with local agencies that experienced storm damages this week."

In a letter sent to the Biden Administration requesting federal funding, Congressman Carbajal detailed some of the damage from storms in the local area stating:

“In the City of San Luis Obispo, the storm caused severe damage to eight steel firehouse rollup bay doors. In Santa Barbara County, the County experienced severe cold temperatures, snow in higher elevations, flooding, among other extreme weather. At the San Marcos Pass, Santa Barbara County rainfall gauges measured nine inches of rain and four inches of rain in the City of Santa Barbara within a 24-hour period. This prompted Santa Barbara County to issue a flash flood warning. Additionally, Mission Canyon and Mission Creek experienced severe erosion, causing retaining walls to collapse. In Ventura County, residents also experienced extensive flooding. This led to serious damage to our roadways, bridges, and other water infrastructure. Mudslides blocked State Route 33 in the Los Padres National Forest.”