SPRING VALLEY >> Residents of Spring Valley are isolated from the rest of civilization after storm damage to a bridge forced the Monday morning closure of New Long Valley Road, the only way in or out of the community of about 900 people.
Only a few residents left town on Sunday after the Lake County Sheriffs Office issued a voluntary evacuation notice on Saturday night. The vast majority of residents chose to stay. The road closure is expected to last several days.
Local residents packed into a hastily-called town hall meeting on Sunday to hear details of the ongoing emergency and the plans by first responders to deal with it.
While the road is closed, an emergency, temporary, Bailey Bridge is being put in place to replace the existing, crumbling bridge on New Long Valley Road where K-rails held back the debris-laden mudslides from last week. The road closure started around 9 a.m. Monday.
During the bridge replacement, there is no roadway for several dozen yards where the old bridge once sat, so there is be nothing there to cross. No vehicles, including first responders, are able to get in or out.
The only other route out of Spring Valley that usually doesn’t require a four-wheel drive vehicle, Old Long Valley Road, is closed in both directions where Long Creek crosses directly over the road.
Long Creek — normally a trickle — is currently a raging, roiling river of muddy water with lots of debris — from entire trees to farm machinery — and is currently an estimated 100-feet wide and 12-18-feet deep in the middle of the crossing. The water is flowing at an estimated 40-45 miles per hour.
Short of using an aircraft carrier or ark, the creek is not crossable.
Spring Valley residents were last asked to evacuate during the 2015 Rocky Fire when New Long Valley Road was closed to residents for a week. The fire never reached the valley.
About 150 people packed into the Spring Valley Community Center Sunday morning to listen to and question Lake County officials who called the emergency town meeting to discuss the bridge replacement and road closure.
New Long Valley Road has been a continuing problem for decades regarding water flows along with mud, rock and debris slides that sometimes include entire trees. Problems were minimal during drought years but this season’s extraordinary rainfall has brought them to the forefront.
The situation reached a critical point Saturday when a giant slide of mud, water and debris, including timber, washed down from the nearby hills and inundated a bridge on the road about a mile north of Hwy. 20, compromising the integrity of the bridge and roadway above and near it. In addition, multiple other mud, rock and debris slides were reported along other sections of New Long Valley Road, creating hazardous driving conditions.
At 7:47 p.m. Saturday, the sheriff’ department issued a NIXLE alert announcing the road closure and the community was soon abuzz with the news. The alert also announced the community meeting for 9 a.m. Sunday.
“New Long Valley Road in Spring Valley has become increasingly unstable and it is anticipated that a landslide may occur,” the alert stated.
It also announced that once work started on temporary bridge fix, “…residents will not be allowed to leave and no residents will be allowed to return.”
It continued, “Residents in Spring Valley are encouraged to evacuate or be prepared to be on their own until Wednesday or Thursday.”
The principle speakers at Sunday’s meeting included Sheriff Brian Martin, county Public Works Director Scott DeLeon and Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jay Beristianos.
Martin said “there is a slide coming down” that is expected to continue pouring across New Long Valley Road “…despite our best efforts to clear the road.”
Although the official expected completion date is Wednesday, DeLeon sad he hopes to have repairs finished sometime tonight. He also said repair crews would work on the project through Sunday night until completion “…no matter how bad the weather gets.”
One of the strongest storms of the season hit Lake County late Sunday night bringing moderate to heavy rain throughout the night and all day Monday. Rain is forecast to continue throughout the county today.
During the road closure, first responders have maintained a presence in Spring Valley. Two sheriff’s deputies staff a 24-hour mobile command center at the local volunteer fire station off Spring Valley Road. Northshore Fire has a paramedic and firefighter at the station during the emergency.
The station is maintained by Northshore Fire but is not normally staffed due to a shortage of volunteers in Spring Valley. It has a single, older fire engine. Beristianos said the department can’t spare stationing an engine company from another station in the valley due to an expected high demand on the department’s resources during the current series of storms.
There is not likely to be air ambulance service available to Spring Valley or the rest of the county during the closure since CalStar and REACH medical helicopter services refuse to fly in bad weather.
Beristianos said there is the possibility of requesting a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, probably from Petaluma or Bodega Bay, should there be a serious medical emergency that requires transport out of the valley.
“If you have a medical emergency, call 911 and we’ll figure it out,” the fire chief added.
Once in place, the Bailey bridge will serve as a temporary fix through the winter but a permanent replacement is needed, something DeLeon said the county is studying.
The Bailey bridge is a type of easily-assembled truss bridge developed for military use during World War II.
The single-lane temporary bridge in Spring Valley will have stop signs on each side and common road courtesy will be the rule. It’s similar to the Wolf Creek Road bridge over Wolf Creek at the community center and campground.
There were American Red Cross representatives at Sunday’s meeting in case residents needed help in evacuating. But when Martin asked the crowd how many people planned to leave for the road closure duration, not one person raised a hand.
In the midst of the seriousness of the meeting, there was some humor. When a concerned resident asked Sheriff Martin, who is taking care of him while he’s taking care of the public, he replied, “Mrs. Martin.”
