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Palmdale staff canvassing storm affected neighborhoods

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Neighborhood Compliance Officer Bob Maroun asks a resident if his home was affected by the storm. [contributed]
Neighborhood Compliance Officer Bob Maroun asks a resident if his home was affected by the storm. [contributed]
PALMDALE – Staff from Palmdale’s Neighborhood Services department on Wednesday visited several neighborhoods that were impacted by the recent floods and mudslides to check on the welfare of residents and gather information on damages.

Office Assistant Kayla Macias leaves a flyer on the door of a home. [contributed]
Office Assistant Kayla Macias leaves a flier on the door of a home. [contributed]
More than 20 city workers went door-to-door asking residents if they had any damages and if they had any immediate needs. A flier with detailed information on how to report damages was left on the doors where residents were not at home.

“Collecting data on the damages is important for us as we will be presenting the information along with the county to the state for potential disaster relief funding,” stated Anne Ambrose. “We also reached out to the American Red Cross, and have numerous community organizations like Antelope Valley CERT, Boy Scouts of America, and local faith-based organizations that want to help out wherever possible.”

Both the City of Palmdale and the County of Los Angeles have declared a local state of emergency.

“We will provide updates about any possible disaster assistance program funds if and when they become available,” Ambrose said. “For now, anyone who has sustained damages from the storm should either call 211, or visit www.211LA.org.”

Cleanup efforts continuing

City of Palmdale Public Works crews continue to work on cleaning up the residual dirt and mud from the flooding. At a special City Council meeting Wednesday night, the Council was expected to vote on a FY 2015/16 budget adjustment to appropriate $1.2 million in funds for the cleanup efforts.

“We’ve never before seen a storm like this before,” noted Ambrose. “The National Weather Service called it a ‘1,000-year rain event’ that dumped some 3 inches of rain in parts of the Antelope Valley in a span of 30 minutes.”

With experts predicting a very wet winter season due to a strong El Nino forecasted, Palmdale began its winter preparations earlier this month and is reminding residents to make preparations now.

“We always encourage our residents to prepare for emergencies as we live in an area that is susceptible to earthquakes, fires and floods,” Ambrose said. “In a major disaster it may be several days before help arrives. Residents should set aside enough food, water and other necessities to ‘shelter in place’ for a minimum of three days.”

Other resources for disaster preparedness include www.ready.gov, www.antelopevalleycert.com, and www.redcross.org/ca/los-angeles. For information and safety tips related to the coming of El Nino, visit the county’s El Nino Web page at www.lacounty.gov/elnino.

“If our residents have any questions, please call 661-267-5115,” concluded Ambrose.

[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]

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Filed Under: Palmdale

8 comments for "Palmdale staff canvassing storm affected neighborhoods"

  2. Nice to see the compliance officer doing something productive instead of issuing citations for dumpsters in front of the house and Christmas lights after the holidays and tree pruning year round.

    • They give out tickets for petty things that peoples’ petty neighbors complain about. Options are to not do annoying petty things, or maintain relations with your neighbors such that they do not pettily take their complaints to the city. My girlfriend’s trash cans live in FRONT of the side yard gate where they are visible from the street. No one complains, so she has never been ticketed. Our block doesn’t play petty rat games.

      • Although they give out tickets for petty things, I must thank them for what they do. Yes some things they do are petty but I rather have someone on top of the petty things versus feeling like Im on skid row. My advice, don’t stick out like a sore thumb and everything should be OK. On the flip side they show compassion for the residents affected by the storm. Now that would be harsh if they are in the neighborhoods ticketing residents in the neighborhood for whatever reasons however this article shows they have a heart.

    • It was City of Palmdale staff. Leona Valley is the county so you wouldn’t see them in your neighborhood. You may want to contact the 211 they mentioned in the article if you need assistance.