Northern California community trapped without power after rain washes out roads

After heavy rains washed out both roads into the Humboldt County community of Redwood Valley, its residents were stranded without power or supplies.

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On Tuesday — four days after the devastating downpour began — the roughly 50 residents remained trapped, and many were urging the county to expedite fixing the roads.

“It’s a really bad mess. I mean, there’s like 20-, 30-foot canyons where the road used to be,” resident John Tavasci said.

The only way to leave Redwood Valley was to drive to a road closure, walk a quarter-mile and get a ride from someone on the other side.

Tom Mattson, the county’s director of public works, initially said at least one of the two roads — Bair and Stover — should be fixed by the end of Tuesday, but an update from the agency pushed the estimate to Wednesday.

The storms that began on Friday dropped about 7 inches of rain in the mountains east of Eureka and overwhelmed the culverts in Redwood Valley, allowing streams to wash out roads. A 110-year-old precipitation record was broken in Eureka, the National Weather Service said.

Pacific Gas and Electric’s outage map confirmed Wednesday that power remains out for dozens of households in the Redwood Creek drainage north of Highway 299.

“The situation for us is rather serious. People are without electricity and without a way to easily get food and supplies. We are doing the best we can as a community to support each other, but ultimately, we need one safe lane to get in and out of our valley as soon as possible,” Redwood Valley resident Lana Borealis said via email.

Early cost estimates put the damage well over $1 million, Mattson said. When asked about the condition of the Redwood Valley roads before the storm, he said it was “average for the county.”

Another band of showers arrived Tuesday evening in Humboldt County, and heavier rain is expected starting Friday, the weather service said.