BREAKING: State of Emergency Declared in Riverside

Updated at 1:30 p.m.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in Riverside and five other California counties because of damage from last weekend’s rainstorms, which washed out a freeway bridge in Desert Center and forced the closure of the main roadway between California and Arizona.

In the declaration, Newsom wrote that the storms caused flash flooding and mudslides that damaged public and private facilities, forced the evacuation of residents and prompted the opening of emergency shelters.

He pointed in particular to the collapse of the Interstate 10 bridge about 50 miles west of the Arizona state line in Riverside County. Caltrans officials awarded an emergency repair contract earlier this week, and the bridge is expected to be reopened Friday with one lane in each direction.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Contractor Hired to Fix Collapsed I-10 Bridge
• Local Tourism Holding Up Despite I-10 Closure
• Official: Freeway Bridge Failure Surprising
• Bridge Collapsed in Desert Center, Trapping Truck Beneath
• Severe Thunderstorm Floods Parts of Riverside
• I-10 Closes Indefinitely at Desert Center After Flood Washed Out Bridge
• Supervisors to Proclaim County Emergency Due to I-10 Closure
• Collapsed I-10 Bridge to Reopen Friday

Newsom took the action for Riverside, San Diego, Los Angeles, Imperial, Kern and San Bernardino counties because Gov. Jerry Brown is out of the country.

The lieutenant governor also ordered Caltrans to seek emergency funding from the Federal Highway Administration to pay for road repairs.

• --City News Service. Courtesy photo