El Centro declares emergency over storm
EL CENTRO — With cleanup from Saturday’s violent thunderstorm steadily progressing, the El Centro City Council approved declaring a local emergency that paves the way for possible state aid on Tuesday, October 18.
The vote was 4-0 with council member Cheryl Viegas-Walker absent.
Mayor Tomas Oliva had high praise for the efforts of city staff on storm damage cleanup, including a drainage problem that left several feet of water on South Fifth Street, south of Aurora Drive, which was not cleared until late Monday or early Tuesday.
“Even days after the storm drains were clogged,” Oliva said. “At a mobile home park, people were stuck in their homes. To Public Works, the Fire Department, Police Department, Finance Department: thank you. There’s the job and you guys went beyond that.”
Some 70 properties in the Fifth Street area faced flooding and a fire truck was used to pump water out, Oliva said.
In an interview after the meeting, City Manager Marcela Piedra explained that area drains to an Imperial Irrigation District drain and an assessment will be done to find the source of the problem.
“We knew there were issues, but not to that extent,” Piedra said. “We’re going to look at ways to take other measures to get around that.”
The city will also review how other drainage and the city wastewater plant performed.
With winds surging at an estimated 70 miles per hour on last Saturday, the storm unleashed hail, dumping up to three inches of rain in just a few hours, a National Weather Service official said. It downed numerous trees and power lines, and caused several power outages, causing subsequent road closures around Imperial County.