We drove from the SF Bay area to Santa Barbara starting Wednesday morning. At first it was cloudy along the coast but by the time we got to Salinas on 101 south the sky started opening up and we could finally see the sun. We knew that starting Thursday Morning that up to two inches of rain were going to fall in Santa Barbara area so we wanted to try to keep more land from eroding that we own in Santa Barbara up on a hill.
However, we were not prepared for what we found. Though our home had only minor damage of water seeping into the den under a sliding door (Our landscaper brought sand bags while we were there so it didn't get any worse so the sliding glass door area is now sand bagged to prevent further water damage to the rugs in the den. Then we went outside and I put a 15 by 25 foot piece of 4ML plastic down over the erosion damage to the lower part of our hilly acreage below our home which is on a terrace of land.
Though I wasn't surprised to see the erosion damage I found and I addressed this as best I could temporarily with this big sheet of plastic to prevent further damage and weights at the top of the plastic so it couldn't slide down the hill I wasn't prepared for what I saw across the steep paved road to our area. What had happened was that the 10 inches of rain had basically undermined the paved road so there were all sorts of new cracks (which could now get worse) in the next rains whenever a large truck or dump truck or cement truck uses that road.
So, when our landscaper came with the sand bags for our sliding glass door for the next storm he agreed with me that we might lose a section of paved road this winter below where our driveway is and we might have to come to our house from the road off the top of the hill because a section of the road (from all the new cracks) might give way under the weight of a larger truck now in the coming winter storms.
Also, a large 2 foot through tall tree was undermined down at least 2 feet below ground level to where my wife was worried it was going to come down soon during the next storms and take out the power line to our house and the houses of our neighbors up our street.
So, it's just like God told me the night before when God said, "The problems down in Santa Barbara are not what you are presently aware of so be open to what you find there. Be in the moment" which was very good advice from God because most of what I expected to find was not what I actually have found so far regarding Atmospheric River Damage done mostly last weekend.
and all the Cracks in the paved road are new from cars and trucks driving over a slightly compromised paved road where the packed earth under the road has been compromised by too much water washing along it.
Then also the cement drains put along this steep paved road are also compromised and cracking out too which means even further erosion of the cement drains and the road itself is likely in the coming months of rain storms.
So, we will see where we are at after 2 more inches of rain fall between now and Friday Night it looks like.
