Flood waters continued to cover most of downtown Pajaro on Sunday morning.
Army national guard trucks and humvees waded through storm waters on Main Street, a ghost town now with nothing but flooded-out cars, sandbags and residents still trapped behind the water line.
The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services announced the full closure of Highway 1 about 9:15 a.m. Sunday.
It was the latest hardship for an area that saw evacuation shelters continuing to fill following a breach in the levee. Crews are still working to fill the breach with riprap and rock.
Caltrans has yet to give an estimate of when the roads will open, but Nieto said on Sunday afternoon that it likely won’t be soon.
In the distance, more danger loomed from the next atmospheric river. It continued with Jaws-like relentlessness to push toward the California coast Sunday, its projected path expected to affect the flooded areas even more, and perhaps create new ones, according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s really sad to see the town like this,” said Margarito Rincon. “But there’s nothing you can do against nature.”
Esteban Sepulveda holds his dog Milo while leaving his home in Pajaro Valley, Calif. on Sunday March 12, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Pajaro River Levee breached on the Monterey County side flooding the town of Pajaro. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
People stay in an evacuation area at Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Parjaro, Calif. on Sunday, March 12, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Lucia Mendoza, 37, of Pajaro, cries in the evacuation center at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, Calif. on Sunday March 12, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Flood waters cover most of Pájaro Valley, Calif., on Sunday, March 12, 2023. An atmospheric river storm broke through a levee along the Pájaro river inundating homes and businesses and leaving thousands of people without shelter. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Rocio Morando, of Pajaro Valley, holds her son David Morando, 3, in front of their home in Pajaro Valley, Calif. on Sunday March 12, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
A CalTrans vehicle drives north through flood waters that closed Highway 1 at the Santa Cruz County line on Sunday. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Bernardino Gracida, 30, sits on his cot in the evacuation center at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, Calif. on Sunday March 12, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Flood waters cover most of Pájaro Valley, …read more
Source:: The Mercury News