SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency in several counties across the state to support the ongoing response to recent winter storms.
The emergency proclamation supports response and recovery efforts, including expanding access to state resources for counties under the California Disaster Assistance Act to support their recovery and response efforts, directing the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to request immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program in order to obtain federal assistance for highway repairs or reconstruction, and easing access to unemployment benefits for those unemployed as a result of the storms.
Governor Newsom yesterday released a statement on emergency response efforts now underway across the state and provided an update on the state’s actions to mitigate the impact of weather conditions. Caltrans also issued a press release urging drivers to avoid non-essential travel to the Sierra due to record snowfall.
The text of today’s proclamation can be found here.
PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY
WHEREAS beginning on or about December 10, 2021, December 16, 2021, and December 21, 2021, a series of winter storm systems struck California, bringing substantial precipitation, including record-breaking snowfall, damaging winds, and flooding, and storms continue to impact significant portions of the state; and
WHEREAS these storms affected communications and other critical infrastructure, resulted in power outages to thousands of households and businesses, and caused trees and tree limbs to fall, damaging structures and obstructing major highways and local roads; and
WHEREAS these storms damaged and forced the closure of dozens of major highways and local roads, including primary corridors into the Tahoe Basin; and
WHEREAS these storms have resulted in the threat of mud and debris flows, particularly on burn scars from recent wildfires, necessitating the prepositioning of emergency response resources; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8558(b), I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to these storms; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8558(b), I find that the conditions caused by these storms, by reason of their magnitude and combined impact, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to appropriately respond; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 862S(c), I find that local authority is inadequate to cope with the magnitude of the damage caused by these storms; and
WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code section 8571, I find that strict compliance with various statutes and regulations specified in this Proclamation would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of these storms.