Residents of Croy Road behind a massive mudslide now have access
to the outside world after it took county crews until late Thursday
afternoon to clear one lane that is now safe for passenger
vehicles.
Residents of Croy Road behind a massive mudslide now have access to the outside world after it took county crews until late Thursday afternoon to clear one lane that is now safe for passenger vehicles.
The Santa Clara County road department has exhausted every minute of daylight trying to clean up the slide which happened early Sunday morning, according to county roads and airports director Michael Murdter. He said both lanes could be open by this evening.
Croy Road resident Hugh McPhee added the crews “made a lot of progress” Wednesday and Thursday.
At least 2,000 cubic yards – or 200 truckloads – of mud, rocks, vegetation and other debris slid onto Croy Road, Murdter said. At least seven 200-foot-tall redwood trees fell on top of the road with the mudslide, which pinned about 80 to 100 residents behind the mess, without electricity and with limited supplies until the slide is cleaned up.
Murdter added the runny consistency of the material that spilled makes the process unpredictable. With the material falling from a steep uphill slope, when debris is moved from the road, the debris further up the hill falls down behind it.
“It’s just saturated soil,” Murdter said. “Some of the material that’s still uphill is being held up by the pile at the bottom. Eventually that will stop” – though road crews are not sure when.
“A limiting factor is the road is narrow, and it’s steep on the uphill and downhill side,” Murdter said.
The slide was likely the result of continuous rains that drenched Morgan Hill and surrounding areas during the month of March, county staff said. Croy Road leads through a remote area of the hills of western Morgan Hill.
The disaster did not significantly hamper an emergency medical response to a resident Wednesday.
About 4:15 p.m., a Calstar helicopter responded when county paramedics performing welfare checks on residents of the Sveadal community on Croy Road came across an elderly woman who showed signs of a stroke, Calfire battalion chief Jim Crawford said. Calfire sent fire engines to the scene as well. After performing CPR on the woman at the scene, paramedics drove her to the inside of the slide, and carried her across the debris on foot to an ambulance waiting on the other side.
The woman was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, Crawford said. He did not know her condition at press time, but said she was “conscious and stable” when she was on the way to the hospital.
McPhee said the mud that slid into the road is “like lava.”
The residents who were blocked into their neighborhoods by the slide, including elderly residents of the Sveadal Swedish-American community, have been able to contact the county to obtain supplies. County crews brought in gasoline and water Wednesday, via a fire break road that goes through private property around the slide, Murdter said.
Residents in need of more supplies, including food or medicine, may contact county firefighters, EMS staff or rangers at Uvas Canyon County Park – at the end of Croy Road – and stationed at other areas along the road behind the slide.
The fire break that goes around the mess, and was the only way in and out before one lane was opened Thursday, is more like a “maze of roads” that is only passable with 4-wheel-drive vehicles, according to McPhee.
Plus, it’s about an hour’s drive just to get to the other side of the slide, on the 6100 block of Croy Road.
Sheriff’s deputies and park rangers have been on hand to guide residents through the alternate route, and to shuttle supplies in as they are needed, McPhee added.
County staff estimate about 12 residents live behind the slide and are affected by the incident, though McPhee said up to 100 residents are affected.
Many of the residents were beginning to run low on basic supplies, including water and gas or diesel to run generators. They have continued to check in on each other since the slide happened, McPhee said.
All the homes behind the slide are without electricity, McPhee said, as the fallen trees took the power lines down. Many are running generators or batteries to keep their lights on.
“I’m out of beer, and I’m out of brandy,” but otherwise McPhee was well stocked with supplies, he laughed Thursday.
Crawford said county public health officials visited the properties isolated by the slide this week.
He added that the residents in the rural area are largely self-sufficient. “They’re pretty good about taking care of themselves.”
