2 Cities Receive Federal Storm Aid

Two federal agencies will provide assistance to two Ventura County cities in the wake of El Nino-generated storms that left the waterlogged county struggling to repair damaged levees and transportation lines.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to help pay for repairs to the Santa Paula Branch Rail Line, which has been closed for more than a month because of damage from the storms.

And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rushing to repair a stretch of eroded levee in Fillmore.

FEMA agreed last week to fund as much as 75% of the repairs to the damaged 32-mile rail line in Santa Paula, with most of the remaining 25% coming from the state Office of Emergency Services.

Ventura County Transportation Commission officials estimate that between $200,000 and $350,000 is needed to repair the track, damaged by water and mud from the Santa Clara River and surrounding flood channels.

The line, which is used to ship freight to the Weyerhaeuser plant in Santa Paula and to run entertainment excursions operated by the Fillmore and Western Railway, has been closed since late January because of the damage, which includes washouts, destroyed switches and undermined bridge foundations.

Commission officials hope that with FEMA aid, the line can reopen within a month.

In Fillmore, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin repairing 100 feet of eroded levee along the Santa Clara River to protect the city’s waste-water treatment plant.

The work should be completed by March 15, officials said. The Los Angeles District awarded a $199,500 contract to Oxnard-based Blois Construction Inc. to fix an emergency ring dike at the treatment plant. It will protect a waste-water pond on the south end of C Street and California 126.

After fixing the levee, workers will stack riprap on the embankment to strengthen it against future flood waters.

The corps is authorized to react to major flood and coastal storm disasters that could threaten lives or damage property.

The Los Angeles District also provides technical advice and assists in clearing drainage channels, bridge openings or structures blocked by debris unleashed during natural disasters.