Pajaro residents still counting down the days to return home, following town hall meeting
On Tuesday night, Monterey County leaders held a town hall meeting at the Santa Cruz County Fairground for the people of the Pajaro community.
It was a packed room, filled with community members who said they’re frustrated, tired and fed up. All showed up with one big question for county leaders, “When can we return home?”
Pajaro resident Eric Martinez said, “Unfortunately, my room and my brothers room they both got damaged in it. The garage as well. Everything in the backyard, just destroyed. We’re just ready to go back home to be honest, there's nothing like being home.”
During the meeting, Calfire, Environmental Health and local leaders informed people on what the assessments they’ve been conducting entail. In addition, they also explained how to re-enter safely when the time comes.
Monterey County communications director, Nick Pasculli said, “If they don't follow the guidelines that we're providing from a public health standpoint that people will get sick and we're most concerned about the little ones and those that are elderly or vulnerable.”
Marni Flagg, with the Environmental Health Bureau, added, “About 14-inches of water have entered people’s homes and so the aftermath of that is not necessarily something that's healthy for people to enter back into.”
Officials said there are several big issues impacting of when Public Works and Environmental Health will deem the area safe enough for re-entry. They point out that the sewage system is one of their biggest challenges.
“Of course, the cleanup’s going to be a huge challenge but the sewer system is a big one. If we can get the sewer system up and running in the next couple of days, then they can start to flush the system. The water company, which is not part of the county, can turn the water back on and flush their system. So we’re optimistic, but we’re being cautious,” Pasculli said.
In the end of Tuesday's meeting, many residents were still far from satisfied with the explanations they got. Some also said they’re worried about the future in regard to the levee.
“I don't want to see this happen again. They've been talking about fixing the levee and doing repairs and all that, and they're just taking way too long, way too long,” Martinez said.
Monterey County officials said they’re hopeful that residents will be able to go home sometime before the end of this week but also said that could be as early as Friday or as late as Sunday afternoon.