SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 27 unanimously adopted a resolution ratifying the County Administrative Officer’s Dec. 24 proclamation of a local emergency for the coastal storm that struck Dec. 23–24, enabling the county to seek state and federal assistance.

The action, taken at a special meeting, passed on a 3-0 roll call vote with Supervisors Friend, McPherson and Hernandez voting “aye”; Supervisors Koenig and Cummings were absent. The resolution directs staff to request state and federal support and to pursue Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance for businesses affected on the wharf and inside the harbor.

County Director of Emergency Services Dave Reed told the board the county is in the early stages of collecting damage estimates and does not expect statewide damages to reach the level of a federal disaster declaration. "We do not anticipate that the damages statewide will elevate to a federal disaster declaration level," Reed said, while noting the county and harbor ran significant damage and that the Port District and City of Santa Cruz had the greatest impacts.

Initial estimates presented during the meeting placed damage to harbor infrastructure in the tens of millions of dollars. Reed and public commenters cited preliminary harbor figures ranging from $15 million–$18 million to "north of $20,000,000." Port commissioners and staff also reported that at least six to eight boats were sunk and many more were damaged. The county will include harbor losses, county beach-access site damage and debris cleanup in initial damage reports to the state.

Toby Goddard of the Santa Cruz Port District told supervisors the port commission supports ratifying the proclamation and forwarding the resolution to the State of California and the governor. "I'm here mainly to voice the support of the entire port commission for the actions here before you today to ratify the proclamation," Goddard said. Bob DeWitt, newly appointed to the port commission, also voiced support.

Supervisor Friend said the community faces repeated recovery needs and emphasized the importance of resilience and financing. "Resiliency is gonna be key moving forward," Friend said, adding that finding funding will be a significant challenge for the community.

Reed said county staff are coordinating debris removal with state partners and will seek a state resource mission to clear debris from state park property, county park beaches, city beaches and, where appropriate, private property. The county will request SBA support specifically to address the economic impact on wharf and harbor businesses.

The board received no speakers online and heard two port commissioners in person during public comment. After the vote the board adjourned; its next scheduled meeting is Jan. 10, 2025, at 9 a.m.