Getting Answers: Local counties declare emergencies ahead of next storm, but what does that really do?
SACRAMENTO — A record-setting winter storm pushed many Northern California counties to the brink and forced some to declare local emergencies — but what do those declarations really do?
It all comes as the region braces for another round of punishing weather, and four counties have made those emergency proclamations so far.
They allow governments to free up a lot of resources during a crisis, which is welcome news for those who've spent the first few days of the new year in the dark.
"This isn't like something that never happens. I mean, we've had storms and we've had power go out two or three hours maybe over the years, you know and it comes back on. But this is just unprecedented,"
Here's a list of the counties that have declared emergencies as of Monday night: Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties.
As we touched on, the purpose of a local emergency declaration is to free up resources for recovery and allows for things like extraordinary police powers and safety orders to take effect. It's also the first step a county must take before asking for any state or federal help.
In San Joaquin County, homeowners say their focus now is on the next big storm.
Those concerns are certainly valid, given what we've seen over the last few days.
CBS13 meteorologists are forecasting heavy rain and winds to hit the region again Wednesday into Thursday and say it's possible even more counties could declare an emergency.