Supervisors to Proclaim County Emergency Due to I-10 Closure

Photo courtesy of John Hawkins/CalFire Riverside

By City News Service

Riverside County Board of Supervisors Chairman Marion Ashley said Monday that the board intends to declare a local state of emergency as a result of the collapse of a section of Interstate 10 near Desert Center.

“We’ll try to address this situation very quickly and efficiently,” Ashley told City News Service. “Forty percent of the goods shipped throughout the country pass through that corridor, either by highway or rail. Now it’s been cut in half.”

Ashley said the board tomorrow will be reviewing how the interstate’s indefinite closure may impact trade and transportation countywide. Emergency declarations often enable affected parties to apply for state and federal relief covering the period in which they’re impacted.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Bridge Collapsed in Desert Center, Trapping Truck
• Severe Thunderstorm Floods Parts of Riverside County
• Six MoVal Homes Flooded During Thunderstorm

I-10 is a transcontinental linkage, spanning California to Florida. During Sunday’s thunderstorm, a portion of the eastbound side of the freeway broke apart, and a large section of the westbound side was damaged at the Adair overcrossing, about 42 miles west of the Arizona state line.

It’s not immediately known how long it may take to repair and re-open the artery. Caltrans will be overseeing the repairs.

“The closest thing I can compare it to is the Northridge earthquake,” Ashley said. “Our governor at that time, Pete Wilson, declared a statewide emergency and exempted projects from environmental assessments so that the contractor could get in there and fix the quake-damaged interchanges in record time. We need something like that now.”

Ashley said he was not prepared to “point the finger of blame” at state engineers or other authorities responsible for ensuring the integrity of the span that crumbled Sunday.

“You have an act of God like this, anything can happen,” he told City News Service. “You have a big enough thunderstorm cell, and you can receive the equivalent of a 100-year rainfall in a matter of hours in one spot.

“I just thank God no one was seriously hurt,” Ashley said. “This shows you that, no matter how secure you may feel on these highways, Mother Nature can still rise up and do her thing. Best we can do is react to it.”