The Scotts Valley City Council has approved a resolution declaring a local emergency following a tornado that surprised the city during stormy weather on a Saturday afternoon earlier this month.
The tornado hit at about 1:40 p.m. Dec. 14 and city officials said it traveled about .31 miles along Mt. Herman Road between Lockwood Lane to Kings Village Road, destroying 15 overhead traffic signals and downing numerous trees, including one large tree about 4 feet in diameter that blocked Bean Creek Road and landed on a building at Scotts Valley Middle School.
The tornado was classified as an EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with a maximum wind speed of 90 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Scotts Valley police said five people were injured when the tornado overturned multiple vehicles and three of the injured were transported to medical facilities that day.
Power was restored to all businesses in the area by the following morning and all roads had reopened by then as well, according to police.
A staff report for Wednesday’s special City Council meeting to address the impacts from the tornado said there was at least $100,000 in damage though “the true extent of the damage caused by the tornado has yet to be ascertained.”
The council unanimously approved the resolution to declare the local emergency, which City Manager Mali LaGoe told councilmembers would allow the city to seek state assistance in paying for repairs from the tornado.
LaGoe told members of the public at the meeting that if they suffered any property damage as a result of the tornado, they should contact the city to see if they are eligible for any assistance from the state.
Emergency response praised
City councilmembers and residents during the meeting’s public comment period thanked first responders and city staff for responding quickly to the tornado.
Councilmember Krista Jett, who was sworn in earlier Wednesday as a new councilmember after being elected last month to a council seat, said she was driving with her children to get ice cream Saturday afternoon when the tornado hit.
“It was a chaotic moment, we didn’t know what happened,” Jett said. “Seeing the response from our first responders was very calming, very confidence-inspiring.”
New Mayor Derek Timm, who was appointed to the position during the council’s reorganization meeting earlier Wednesday, said at the special meeting about the tornado that he “saw almost every single person in this room out on the front lines when this occurred.”
Timm also encouraged people in the region to support local businesses who were affected by road closures, power outages and other impacts from the unexpected twister that hit their city.
“This is the prime holiday season when our businesses make their money,” he said. “I’d ask the wider community to please frequent Scotts Valley right now.”