Despite some good news, flood recovery meeting points to long, difficult road ahead

An hour into Sunday’s flood recovery community meeting at El Molino High School gym in Forestville, the moderator ended the formal Q&A, announcing, “We’re going to open up the resource tables for individual questions.”

What followed was a surge.

Many of the 250 or so attendees inundated a dozen or so tables set up on the court, staffed by, among others, politicians, nonprofits and public health officials, the Sheriff’s Office, AT&T, Permit Sonoma and the Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council.

Finding himself surrounded was Johannes Hoevertsz, the county’s transportation and public works director. Several residents from Hacienda, a small neighborhood above the Hacienda Bridge in Forestville, were alarmed and upset about a slow-moving landslide that had dislodged several homes and was now threatening to destroy the one-lane road connecting them to civilization.

“I’d like the county to put in emergency stabilization,” said Brian Andriola, whose house is one of those in the path of the landslide.

“That’s a tough one,” Sonoma County Emergency Manager Chris Godley replied when asked about landslides during the meeting.

Landslide movement “is not often covered” by homeowners insurance or a national flood policy. “At this point, we have neither state or federal aid that I can (direct) to your assistance,” he said.

It wasn’t a grim meeting by any means, but certainly nowhere near as bright and cheerful as the nearby mural of the El Molino lion with the psychedelic mane.

Sure, there was some encouraging news. The local assistance center, with its myriad resources, was now open at the old Bank of America building in Guerneville.

Gov. Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency, opening a spigot of disaster relief funds. But no one pretended there wasn’t much pain ahead. Tempers occasionally flared.

While dumpsters for the disposal of flood-related debris would be located at seven sites around the flooded areas, Godley went on, “at this point we are not picking up debris from the curb. We are not going house to house.”

“Why not?” boomed an angry voice.

Godley began to explain the county’s reluctance to enter private property, but was again interrupted, as was Tennis Wick, the director of Permit Sonoma, when he attempted to explain that, yes, if a homeowner’s property has been yellow-tagged - meaning the county requires upgrades and improvements - that flood victim will have to pay for the permit to do that work. The fact that the average price of those permits, $600, is roughly one-fourth of the cost in normal times, failed to mollify some people.

While the assembly was short on good news, one positive development could be on the horizon. Godley was asked about the possibility of President Donald Trump declaring the flood zone a disaster area, which would result in many millions of dollars in relief.

“We are not a CNN disaster,” Godley noted, “not like the fires, where you could see with your own eyes how tens of thousands of people were directly affected. This (disaster) is a little bit smaller, and Sonoma County took the brunt of this storm.”

“We’re at least several days away from getting enough data, to state and federal government, on which they can base” any decision about a potential presidential disaster declaration, he added. The success of applications for state and federal assistance will hinge, to a large degree, on what officials learn in their ongoing visits to flooded sites.

“So if they come up to you, please talk to ’em,” Godley said.

There was no shortage, afterward, of Hacienda residents eager to buttonhole Hoevertsz, whose portfolio includes infrastructure such as roads. A lively back and forth ensued, concerning the state of Westside Avenue, where the landslide could worsen in upcoming rains.

Hoevertsz assured Hacienda residents that he and his crews had been on the road, and that it was passable.

“It’s not,” countered Kay Henry. “It’s like a Disney ride.”

In its current state, she said, the road poses a hazard to some of her neighbors.

“A lot of those people are old. I’m 76,” said Henry, who clarified, after a brief pause, “but I’m not old.”

You can reach Staff Writer Austin Murphy at 707-521-5214 or austin.murphy@pressdemocrat.com.