Center of the storm
County opens disaster recovery center
STOCKTON -- San Joaquin County announced over the weekend that its has opened a disaster recovery center for residents seeking assistance in the aftermath of the storms and flooding that impacted the area earlier this month.
The center opened at noon on Jan. 28 at the Robert J. Cabral Agricultural Center, located at 2101 E. Earhart Ave. in Stockton.
Several local, state and federal agency representatives will be on hand to assist residents, and services will be available seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Feb. 10.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be on-site to assist residents and businesses to register for disaster assistance and answer any questions about the process.
During the winter storms that hit the region the first two weeks of 2023, the Lodi Fire and Police departments responded to some 100 weather-related calls that included 15 vehicle accidents and two fires caused by falling trees.
Lodi Electric Utility, Public Works and Parks Recreation and Cultural Services crews logged more than 200 hours of overtime as they worked to restore power to thousands of residents, removed some 50 street trees that fell due to high winds, and inspecting dozens of trees in city parks that had the potential to be lost to those high winds.
Some 200 residents of the Arbor Mobile Home Park in Acampo were forced to evacuate over Martin Luther King. Jr. Day when the heavy rains caused major flooding in the area.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office was forced to close Woodbridge Road east
of Highway 99 just after noon on Sunday due to the flooding.
The waters eventually made their way north, causing Caltrans to close both directions of the highway in both directions between Turner and Peltier roads.
Houston and Serna schools are located on Acampo Road, just east of the Highway 99 interchange.
Sacramento County and FEMA opened a disaster recovery at the Chabolla Community Center, 600 Chabolla Ave. in Galt. immediately after the storm.
A FEMA spokesman said as many as 40 residents a day visited the center to seek out recovery resources.
According to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, little rain is expected this week, but temperatures will be in the 50s during the day, and drop into the low 30s at night.
A chance of showers is expected Friday through Sunday.
If you are unable to travel to the disaster center at the Cabral Center, you can apply online at Disaster-Assistance. gov. You can also apply through the FEMA mobile app, or call 800-6213362.
For those in need of a video relay service, captioned telephone service, or other communication services, contact FEMA to receive specific numbers assigned for those services.