Evacuation orders are in effect in parts of the incorporated small San Mateo County town of Woodside, and the sheriff’s office is not mincing words as they tell residents to “LEAVE NOW.”
Fortunately for much of the Bay Area, it’s now the calm after the storm after Tuesday night’s panoply of weather disasters brought by heavy rains and winds of nearly 80 miles per hour. But the situation is still trending in the wrong direction in the small San Mateo County town of Woodside, as KRON4 reports that mudslides are cutting off roads in Woodside, and “Highly Recommended Evacuation” orders have been in effect since Wednesday morning.
If you live in this area, please pack your "Go Bag", with necessary essentials: insurance policy, pets, medications, a change of clothes, and LEAVE NOW. Once the road gives out completely, residents in that area will not have access to emergency services. Evacuation location TBD pic.twitter.com/zz3fEpKz8o
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) March 22, 2023
“If you live in this area, please pack your ‘Go Bag’, with necessary essentials: insurance policy, pets, medications, a change of clothes, and LEAVE NOW,” the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office tweeted at 8:10 a.m. Wednesday morning. “Once the road gives out completely, residents in that area will not have access to emergency services. Evacuation location TBD”
Crews begin clearing #mudslide on Patrol Road in #Woodside which led to mass voluntary evacuation of neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/A7h2jOR9EV
— Robert Handa (@RHandaNBC) March 22, 2023
Notice that they did not say “if” the road gives out completely, they said “once” the road gives out completely.
The affected area is the 600-800 block of Patrol Road in Woodside, and the sheriff’s office estimates that “approximately 30 homes” are cut off, or at risk of being cut off.
Breaking news-people who live on patrol road in Woodside are being “highly recommended” to evacuate at this moment because of mudslides @kron4news pic.twitter.com/NdZn3gzcvI
— Will Tran (@KRON4WTran) March 22, 2023
KRON4’s Will Tran was on the scene in the video above where “highly recommended” evacuation orders are in effect, but SFGate reports that two homes were given “mandatory evacuation orders, as in the words of sheriff's office spokesperson Sergeant Javier Acosta, "These homes are in direct proximity to the mud.”
some additional photos from the mudslide in #Woodside today from @SMCSheriff pic.twitter.com/nOBNfo5fwV
— angelaswartz (@angelaswartz) March 22, 2023
You may not be familiar with Woodside, and perhaps that’s how Woodside would prefer it. It’s one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, and among its homeowners are Larry Ellison, Charles Schwab, and musician Neil Young. Also, it's where Elizabeth Holmes and fiance Billy Evans have been holed up for the past year or two, in a wildly pricy rental, when they're not having to appear in court.
Image: @SMCSheriff via Twitter