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County officials assess storm damage and continue recovery process
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – County officials reported that they are continuing to assess damages from last week's power windstorm.
The storm, which began last Thursday night and continued into Friday morning, ripped through Lake County – particularly the Northshore and the Clearlake areas – causing extensive property damage.
The county of Lake and the city of Clearlake have both proclaimed a local emergency in an effort to expedite the cleanup process, and begin the process of determining the possibility of state and federal aid for disaster relief within their jurisdictions.
The damage assessments initially were hampered by the extensive power outages and downed power lines. Pacific Gas & Electric crews were working around the clock to restore electricity.
Power was restored to most Lake County customers by 6 p.m. Sunday, with a few remaining customers restored by early Tuesday morning, according to PG&E.
Some of the most extensive damage to public property occurred at the county-owned Holiday Harbor Marina in Nice. Approximately half of the docks were destroyed, covered boat awnings were crushed, fences were blown down and a utility pole was snapped.
Other public properties affected by the storm include Keeling Park in Nice, with a fallen tree on the public restrooms, and roof damage to the Upper Lake Library.
Numerous county parks also require extensive clean-up from green waste debris and the county road crews are performing widespread clean up of roadside debris.
While several public properties were damaged, it was the residential structures that were the hardest hit, particularly in the community of Nice, population 2,870.
“The most common type of damage is roof shingles blown off, carports blown down and fences knocked over,” said Community Development Director Richard Coel. “Roughly 25 percent of the homes surveyed in Nice thus far have some form of roof damage ranging from missing shingles to structural damage from trees.”
Lake County building inspectors are currently performing door-to-door surveys in Nice to assess the safety of each home for occupancy, as well as prepare a damage assessment for each structure.
When the building inspectors complete their assessments of Nice they will continue their surveys in Upper Lake and Lucerne.
The Community Development Department estimates they will be done with their damage assessments by Tuesday, Dec. 3.
As of noon on Monday, county building inspectors were able to survey a small sample of homes in Nice.
The county said that currently, the damage includes: 60 residential buildings suffering structural roof damage; nine homes with trees causing damage; five awning/carports destroyed; four dock roofs blown off; and three homes with utility service issues.
Coel expects these numbers to increase significantly as the damage assessment continues, and hopes to have updated numbers for the Nice community on Wednesday.
In an effort to help in the cleanup effort and prevent illegal dumping, the county of Lake has provided waste disposal dumpsters at three sites.
The public should note that no household waste, hazardous materials or green waste should be placed in the dumpsters.
The Lake County Public Services Department asks that green waste be placed next to the dumpsters and not in the dumpsters.
The locations of the disposal sites are:
- Upper Lake County Park, 575 E. Highway 20;
- Lucerne Harbor Park, 6225 E. Highway 20;
- Northshore Fire Department, 3708 Manzanita Dr., Nice.
An additional disposal site for green waste only has been set up near Keeling Park at 1000 Lakeshore Blvd.
For more information on help with the recovery process, citizens may go to www.caloes.ca.gov and click on the “Recovery” tab at the top.
A copy of the “Assistance and Services for Disaster Recovery” can also be found on the CalOES site, and has numerous phone numbers of different agencies that may be able to provide assistance.