Santa Cruz County storms arrive on anniversary of Love Creek disaster

BEN LOMOND — As Santa Cruz County has faced the effects of a series of pineapple express-heightened winter storms and prepared for the worst, this week marks the 41st anniversary of one of the area’s most significant natural disasters for loss of life.

Ten of the 22 people killed during a three-day storm that struck the region Jan. 3-5, 1982, fell victim to a fast-moving mudslide when Love Creek oversaturated a quarter-mile swath of hillside. Others, in Aptos, Soquel, throughout the San Lorenzo Valley and Santa Cruz died in their homes due to mud flows and crashing trees. In Scotts Valley, one woman was swept into Lompico Creek and a man into Carbonero Creek, while another man died there in a tractor accident while clearing a tree.

By comparison, seven people died in Santa Cruz County due to the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 and one man died during the 2020 CZU August Lightning Complex fires. In the past four days, Santa Cruz County has experienced a cumulative rainfall between 1 inch in South County to 5 inches near Scott Creek in San Lorenzo Valley, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s counts. After its first night of rain, the Love Creek storm had racked up 8 inches of rainfall in some areas and an estimated 11.5 inches of rain in 24 hours in the mountains.

Flooding, debris flows and mudslides also took their toll during the 1982 storm. Homes slid from their foundations, into roads and into creeks. At the time, Santa Cruz County officials estimated cumulative storm damages of more than $100 million, including $56 million to homes and private property alone.

Last year, on the 40th anniversary of the Love Creek disaster, Santa Cruz County readied for the increased likelihood of debris flows originating in the burn scars from the CZU fires. Officials issued evacuation orders to thousands of residents in San Lorenzo Valley and near Davenport in January 2021, as an atmospheric river storm struck the area. While some minor debris flows did manifest, the impacts were minimal to urban centers and there was no loss of life.

Unlike in 1982, residents in the past week were given extensive notice of the pending storm, with mandatory evacuation orders issued ahead of Wednesday’s storm for high-danger areas nearest waterways throughout the county. While the urgent storm warnings amounted to little in some parts of the county, some residents — including those in Capitola living along Soquel Creek — remained as waves of water rushed upstream and flooded their yards, ignoring city evacuation orders, according to city officials.

A scaled-back third storm system is forecast to arrive locally Saturday afternoon and extend through Sunday.

Staff writer PK Hattis contributed to this report.