Gov. Gavin Newsom adds 11 counties, including Sacramento, to February storm state of emergency

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday expanded a state of emergency declaration to include 11 additional California counties, including Sacramento County, damaged by a series of storms in early February.

Along with the California state of emergency expansion, Newsom requested a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for several communities impacted by widespread flooding, mudslides and debris flows during the early February storms, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The declaration expansion is to support ongoing recovery from last month’s storms, which produced near-hurricane level wind in the Sacramento area that knocked down hundreds of power poles and tree limbs. More than 300,000 homes and businesses in California were without power for days while crews scrambled to reconnect them.

The punishing wind is blamed for the deaths of at least four people in Northern California, authorities said. Residents were killed when struck by trees pushed over by the storm, including a Carmichael man who died at a hospital after a tree was felled by gusts in his backyard and a Fair Oaks woman found dead in her backyard.

Among other provisions, the California state of emergency declaration directs Caltrans to request immediate federal assistance for highway repairs or reconstruction, according to the news release.

Along with Sacramento County, the governor added Alameda, Butte, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Sutter counties to the initial storm state of emergency declaration issued Feb. 4 as the powerful storms hit Southern California.

The initial declaration covered eight Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura.

The request for a federal Presidential Major Disaster Declaration includes Butte, Glenn, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sutter and Ventura counties.

If the governor’s request is approved, the presidential declaration would make available federal public assistance funding to help state, tribal and local governments cover emergency response and recovery costs. The request also includes funding for hazard mitigation efforts statewide.