Santa Cruz County families now have an evacuation order due to the storm.

WATSONVILLE, CA (KION-TV): Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency for 21 California counties, including Monterey and Santa Cruz, due to the storm. Sarah Lopez lives on Cesar Dr in Watsonville.

One of the areas that currently has an evacuation order due to the storm. She hasn’t seen flood damage in recent storms, but she’s taking no chances.

“We’ve always been worried about that,” Lopez said. “We have a generator, the tanks are full, and we are just waiting for the power to go out.”

Now she is focused on collecting essentials.

“Water and food, preparation for my family.” Lopez said.

Lopez’s grandson, who lives on East Lake Avenue, had to evacuate due to a storm back in January. That’s why she’s preparing supplies for the evacuation.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said people should remain vigilant despite any fatigue they may be experiencing due to a new series of potential evacuations.

“Unfortunately, for some people, you have to deal with it again for the third and fourth time.” Santa Cruz County Deputy Sheriff Chris Clark.

Rain is also reported in Monterey and San Benito County.

“I have family in San Benito County and they had to move too.” Lopez said.

FEMA recently denied San Benito County access to its hurricane relief program. The county is trying to appeal this and is asking people to send in information about damage caused by the storm in early January.

San Benito County has announced that the deadline for filing storm damage filings is March 20 at 5:00 pm. You can send your documents to [email protected].