Pajaro residents are one step closer to being able to apply for additional direct disaster assistance, nearly a year after the community in unincorporated northern Monterey County was inundated with flood water when the Pajaro River levee was breached. 

County Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to launch the Pajaro Unmet Needs Disaster Assistance program, funded by $20 million from the state through Assembly Bill 102 to help the community recover. 

Half of that amount was earmarked by the board for direct assistance for residents and business owners, and the other half will go towards community improvements that were not otherwise covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state, or insurance. 

Local nonprofit organizations Catholic Charities and Community Bridges will administer $5.4 million for individual and household assistance, while the county’s workforce development board will manage $3.7 million for businesses, according to a presentation to the board from Department of Emergency Management Director Kelsey Scanlon. 

A series of workshops will be held in March and an application center will be set up in Pajaro Park later in the month to help residents begin applying for financial recovery assistance, which is available to anyone who was living in the community at the time of the floods, regardless of citizenship status.  

Workshops to explain eligibility requirements and to help navigate the application process will be held at Our Lady of Assumption Church, 100 Salinas Rd., from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 6, 7, 13, and 14. 

Water from the Pajaro River breached the levee around midnight on March 10, 2023. (Ken James/California Department of Water Resources via Bay City News)

Recovery assistance for both residents and businesses will be divided into two phases. 

The first phase for residents will help replace groceries that were lost in the floods, with between $200-$600 in direct assistance, depending on family size. 

The second phase will cover home and vehicle repairs, housing assistance, and replacing personal property damaged in the flood, such as furniture. 

The funds can help homeowners cover the cost of repairs that weren’t covered by FEMA, insurance, or another form of assistance. Renters can apply to help recover moving costs, lost security deposits and other expenses made because of the mandatory evacuations on the night of March 10, 2023. 

Businesses that were operating prior to the floods with a physical storefront can receive up to $85,000 for repairs and at-home businesses can recover up to $5,000 in business-related equipment losses. A second phase just for businesses with storefronts will make up to $15,000 available per business.Â