A Month After Fires Raged, Heavy Rain May Open Burn Scars
NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) — Just months after fires raced through Nevada County, rainy weather is causing flooding concerns in burn scar areas. While the rainy season is just beginning, local governments are not waiting to prepare for any possible slides.
Longtime resident Stella Morris drove around her property today concerned over steady rain pouring into Nevada County.
"We're kind of in a little flat spot down there, and water from all the hills just runs on the property."
The property where her home stood before the Lobo Fire left it in ashes.
"We just got out the clothes on our back," she said.
Still recovering from that loss, she's now looking to avoid additional damage, and she's not the only one.
Trisha Tillotson is the director of Nevada County public works.
"We have erosion control materials ready to deploy as needed," she said.
Working with the Office of Emergency Services, the department is encouraging residents to look out for any signs of trouble.
"We have a multi-discipline team that is going out looking at our public roads making sure there's no damage to the roads, we also folks going on private property looking for damage there as well."
So far she says there's been only a small amount of erosion but her crews want to catch it early.
"We already placed some straw bales near culverts just to reduce the flow of water to prevent erosion of the soil."
Tillotson says erosion can cause further damage flowing into creeks, affecting fish, wildlife, and water quality. Further damage Stella Morris hopes stays away.
"We're just gonna have to wait to see if the rains continue."