Monterey County puts much of Salinas Valley under evacuation order amid flood threat.

Monterey County officials have placed much of the Salinas Valley under an evacuation order, calling on residents from Gonzales north to Spreckels to leave those areas on Sunday, March 12, in the wake of rainstorms that continue to pose a flood risk along the Salinas River.

More than 5,000 Monterey County residents are now under evacuation orders or warnings as officials respond to weather conditions that have already devastated the flood-ravaged community of Pajaro, near Watsonville, and forced power outages that affected tens of thousands of households in recent days.

The new evacuation order expands on previous orders affecting residents near the Salinas River from Gonzales south to Greenfield, as well as from San Lucas down past San Ardo to Jolon Road near Bradley. Areas near the Arroyo Seco River, to the west of the Salinas Valley, are also under evacuation orders, as is much of the Pajaro Valley. A less severe evacuation warning, which warns of the potential threat of flooding, remains in place from Monroe Creek south of Greenfield down to San Lucas.

The evacuation orders mean “people should be ready to leave their homes immediately and seek alternative shelter until the order is lifted,” Monterey County Communications Director Nicholas Pasculli said at a virtual press conference on Sunday, March 12.

Additionally, officials have fully closed the stretch of Highway 1 from Salinas Road north to Highway 129 at Riverside Drive as a result of the Pajaro River’s flooding. Drivers can take a detour via Highway 156 or Highway 129, east to U.S. 101, to travel around the closure. Officials say there is no estimated time of reopening.

Speaking at the press conference, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said authorities have performed rescue operations aiding “close to 200” people, with the majority of those taking place in the Pajaro area. Nieto said there have been no deaths or injuries yet reported as a result of the floods.

At the most recent count, officials said there were 265 people taking refuge at five regional emergency shelters, with the majority of them—235 people—at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, and most of those being Pajaro-area residents impacted by the flooding. There are also shelters at Compass Church in Salinas, Castroville Recreation Center in Castroville, Holy Trinity Church in Greenfield and the Salvation Army in Seaside.

Despite another atmospheric river in the forecast starting Monday night, March 13, officials are hopeful that a scenario they feared in January—in which flooding could cut off roads connecting to the Monterey Peninsula, creating the effect of "an island"—is not in the cards in the coming days.

"We are preparing for that possibility, but we are not anticipating that happening," Pasculli said. "We are watching that very closely."

While flooding impacts have been severe in certain communities, the main artery roads in and out of the Peninsula for now remain open.

Nieto described the March weather as distinct from January's weather systems, with shorter bursts of powerful storms, rather than a sustained rain event. 

"These two [storms] are much different than the January event," she said. "[The January weather] was a longer event; these events are much shorter, much more intense."