Santa Cruz County evacuation orders expand ahead of storm

Santa Cruz County has issued more evacuation orders in anticipation of a winter storm expected Tuesday, county officials said.

Due to the high possibility of debris flow on burn scars, an additional zone in the Ben Lomond Fire Protection District has been ordered to evacuate effective immediately. Other parts of the Ben Lomond district, the Boulder Creek and Felton fire protection districts and Santa Cruz County Fire Department were also already under evacuation orders.

People can see if they are in an evacuation zone by visiting https://community.zonehaven.com.

The county is setting up “temporary evacuation points” at San Lorenzo Valley High School at 7105 state Highway 9, Scotts Valley Community Center at 360 Kings Village Road, and Pacific Elementary School at 50 Ocean St. The locations are not for overnight shelter, according to the county.

Santa Cruz County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chris Clark said in a briefing Monday on the evacuation orders that the coming storm will bring “a lot of rain” and winds gusting up to 50-60 mph at higher elevations. The weather could cause power outages, mudslides and other problems near the areas of the CZU Lightning Complex fires that started last August.

A call center has also been set up at (831) 454-2181. More details about the temporary evacuation points can be found at http://santacruzcounty.us/firerecovery/temporaryevacuationpoints.aspx.