Pajaro Levee Breaks
The night of March 11, 1995 , proves to be a fateful day for the Pajaro Valley, and an exclusive for Bay NewsVideo. The City of Watsonville is busy evacuating all the residents near the Pajaro River which is nearing floodstage. But as of 2 a.m., the river has crested at 2am and the floodwaters are receding. Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, opened its shelters to evacuees. But a different county on the other side of the Pajaro River offers no assistance to the residents of the town of Pajaro, with a population of about 3,000 that is 90 percent Hispanic. At 2:15 a.m., the river levee breaks east of town. No one wanted to leave, until eight feet of water flooded the town and killed one person. All of the video in our archive is exclusive. The video includes "killer" evacuation footage, including dogs being loaded off fire trucks and dramatic aerials on the levee break itself. No other news crews were on the scene that night, except for Bay NewsVideo.