Volunteers gather to remove 200 tons of storm debris from Oceano ranch

OCEANO, Calif. – Volunteers from The Holloway Group and Team Rubicon arrived at Cardoza Ranch in Oceano on Feb. 11 to help clear the impact of heavy flooding on the 12 acre ranch.

In January, storm runoff in Arroyo Grande Creek ran over a failed levee and flooded the ranch and home, in some areas as much as 10-15 feet.

The ranch had so much water and debris, some from miles upstream, because of its location downstream of where the creek meets the dunes and sea.

The Holloway Group volunteered hauling services and workers from its agriculture and environmental services company to move about 200 tons of dirt to be re-used at Santa Lucia Sportsmen's Association range in Atascadero.

“Ninety-nine percent of this material came from somewhere else. It didn’t come from their farm, but it all came to their farm, flooded in here, and now they’re having to deal with it,” said Holloway's CEO, Brian Maxted.

Team Rubicon, a non-profit group of veterans focused on disaster relief, joined the Holloway Group and a dozen local volunteers.

“We’re just trying to provide some help for Pat and his family here, because they took a big hit,” said Team Rubicon's Denny Johnson. "At the end of the day, we got something done for those people, and that’s what’s really going to matter.”

Cleanup efforts on the ranch are expected to continue through the weekend and there remains a long road until the ranch is fully operational again.

The Cardoza's explained more than 50 livestock animals were displaced by flooding and are slowly returning to the ranch as space is cleared.

Some portions of the ranch have been inaccessible since mid-January.