SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : Heavy January Rains Caused $631,000 in Road Damage

Heavy rains that soaked this city last month caused an estimated $631,000 in damage to local roadways, city officials said Thursday.

Most of the cost is expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Adele Macpherson, city emergency preparedness coordinator. The cost includes street repairs and the cleaning of mud-covered streets in Newhall.

The largest single expense, about $300,000, was to shore up land along two primary portions of Sierra Highway and Wiley Canyon Road. Other major costs included $200,000 to reinforce the banks of Newhall Creek and $70,000 for the cleaning in Newhall.

“The debris removal and mud removal are what we call emergency measures and will hopefully be reimbursed by FEMA,” Macpherson said.

Last month, the City Council declared a state of emergency to allow Santa Clarita to apply for FEMA reimbursement. The declaration came only two weeks after the city ended its state of emergency from the Northridge earthquake.

Although city officials have not catalogued private property damage, building inspectors have already seen an estimated $84,000 in damage from last month’s storms, Macpherson said.

During the rains, Santa Clarita closed several major roadways because of flooding.

Those in charge of the storm cleanup say city work crews headed off additional damage by regularly cleaning out storm drains and streams and providing sandbags to property owners in areas that commonly flood.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Macpherson said. “This is definitely true when you talk about the recent storms. We could have had many more problems than we did.”