The rains never seemed to stop, as Erika Isa Sharps of Felton, California, watched her basement flood with over six feet of water.
Between Dec. 26, 2022, and Jan. 15, more than 20 million Californians faced flood alerts, with areas around Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco receiving major flooding. Mountainous areas received over 30 inches of rain. A few dozen people lost their lives, and the floods caused roughly $1 billion in property damage across the state.
Now, as the rains have slowed, Sharps and many others are receiving help from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with flood and mudslide cleanup. Recently, a group of volunteers mucked out 20 homes in two neighborhoods in Felton.
“It’s been such a blessing to see so many folks from the Latter-day Saints come in,” Sharps said. “They showed up and took just a few minutes to clear up people’s basements and make such a big impact. I’m really grateful. ... It’s a thing that everyone here will always remember.”
Elder Matthew Jones, a missionary in the California San Jose Mission, helped with the project.
“I’ve seen so many smiles, even though it’s such a sad thing that happened,” he said.
The missionaries worked alongside members of the Santa Cruz California Stake and volunteers from AmeriCorps and Red Cross.
“[We’ve seen] so many people [coming] from different areas,” Elder Jones said. “People have been cleaning up for days, and it’s really amazing to see people from all over California come here just to be able to help each other — scoop up mud, get dirty — you know?”
President Jeff McNeil, first counselor in the Santa Cruz Stake presidency, told the Church News that his stake has been working with the Santa Cruz County Volunteer Center on other opportunities to serve their neighbors impacted by flooding — even as the members faced damage to their own homes or had to evacuate.
“For the most part, the damage was not too severe and the vast majority are back in their homes and getting the help they need to repair any remaining damage,” he said. “Most of our efforts now are involved in supporting projects for the community.”
Besides mucking out homes, about 20 stake members and 10 full-time missionaries participated in a beach cleanup project on Jan. 20 to pick up flooding and storm debris. And this coming weekend, 75 members signed up to help in another hard-hit city, delivering FEMA information to homes in affected areas so they are aware of the resources available to help them, said President McNeil.
During the storms, members and missionaries also helped prepare two evacuation centers in the county. They filled sandbags, staged sandbags around homes and helped move furniture to the second story of several residences, reported ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The Church has sent truckloads of food from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City to several food banks in San Benito, Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, with needed staples like rice, spaghetti, peanut butter, jam, butter and cheese.
Youth from the Merced California Stake used their day off school on Martin Luther King Jr Day, Jan. 16, to distribute food and other donations gathered by Church members. Women from the Relief Society also gathered 200 heaters.
