Storm-Induced Isolation Tests Tranquility of Big Sur

After four days of weather-induced isolation for all but the most adventurous, customers at the Big Sur Center Deli couldn’t agree Tuesday whether they preferred the new seclusion or longed for a return to normal.

Outside the small store, the usually noisy California 1 was nearly deserted because of a downed bridge over the Carmel River 25 miles north. Kaye Sanders, a reformed New Yorker who lives in Big Sur, liked the silence just fine.

“This is not a problem,” Sanders said. “This is like the old days when you could walk your dog down the middle of the street.” The power outage was no care of hers, she said, because she has solar. “I don’t have television, I don’t want television. I have the sun, the moon and the stars.”

Then there was Jane Hetzel, a bartender and waitress at the nearby Pub who has heard too many friends and bar patrons complain about the incessant rain and the lack of services.

“I’m getting sick of it,” said Hetzel. “People are so anxious. I want the road to open and everyone to just relax. . . . I want my telephone back!”

Phone service, water and power have been out for many residents of the rugged, scenic Big Sur coast ever since the weekend storm that knocked down the Carmel River bridge, cutting off access to Carmel and the nearby Monterey Peninsula.

Tuesday was a sunny, warm spring-like day, the kind of day that typically would lure waves of tourists and nature lovers, but for deli clerk Laurie Silva the pleasant weather was no relief.

It took seven hours of stressful driving to get to work from her home in Monterey, usually an easy 45-minute cruise along the coast. She’s staying with friends in Big Sur until the bridge reopens later this week. “People are getting tired of it now,” she said.

Though stranded by the short span of broken bridge over what is usually a placid creek, locals have shown a lot of creativity about besting the elements. Some residents of Carmel Highlands have crossed the flooded river by negotiating a catwalk over the swollen river, some carrying bags of groceries, until a deputy was posted there to prevent a tragedy.

Others have risked driving unmarked, rutted, private roads across the hills to get to homes or jobs. Those who can have struck deals with helicopter pilots like John Cheathem, who charges $30 to ferry people one at a time across the river or $80 for a ride to the Monterey airport.

One woman who had scheduled a birthday party at her home arranged to have fresh flowers flown in by chopper.

“We’re not suffering losses, we’re just suffering the inconvenience,” said Carmel Highlands Fire Chief Lanny White.

Popular vacation destinations in Big Sur were deserted Tuesday. Despite the abundant sunshine, no one soaked in the Ventana Inn’s Japanese baths or basked at the clothing-optional sun deck with a sweeping view of the Pacific.

Guests were sent home from the inn and the nearby Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur’s other premier lodging, on Saturday as a precaution. To get out they had to travel by car caravan, dodging minor landslides on California 1, and over the Los Padres Mountains on the winding Nacimiento-Ferguson Road to U.S. 101.

“The guests were great,” said Ventana general manager Randy Smith. “They all had a sense of adventure. We were lucky. We have no damage. But economically it’s a disaster.”

At Nepenthe, a landmark restaurant that sits atop a bluff overlooking the ocean and where tourists often wait hours for a table, the outdoor seating deck was deserted except for a lone local having lunch. The Phoenix gift shop downstairs reopened Tuesday when Esalen, the nearby New Age resort, called to say some “power shoppers” needed someplace to spend money.

At the Carmel River Bridge, workers were busily constructing a one-lane temporary road over the washed-out 120-foot section. Caltrans officials estimated that the bridge could be open by Thursday for essential traffic but probably not until Saturday for the general public.

Residents evacuated from the Monterey County farm towns of Pajaro and Castroville over the weekend were allowed Tuesday to go in and check their homes as the flooding from the Pajaro and Salinas rivers began to recede. However, officials discouraged Pajaro residents from moving back because the town was without electricity, water or telephones.

White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a former congressman from Monterey, toured the flooded towns on Tuesday. “It’s worse than I thought,” he said.

California 1 also remained closed going north out of Monterey, said Joe Hart, spokesman for the county’s Offices of Emergency Services. Elsewhere in the state, Yosemite National Park was only accessible via California 120 because of slides on the other two winter routes into the park.

Times staff writer Maria L. La Ganga in Los Angeles contributed to this story.