Pacifica Residents Displaced; Lawmakers Seek Disaster Relief

San Mateo County officials say they’re ready to help Pacifica residents displaced by recent storm damage along the city's shoreline find new places to live.

About 40 people were ordered to evacuate a cliff-top apartment building this week after the relentless pounding of storm-driven waves undermined the beach below. Several single-family homes have also been deemed uninhabitable.

"Nobody wants to be in a shelter very long. So we’re going to offer things like first and last month’s rent, anything else that we can do in terms of getting them into decent housing," county Supervisor Don Horsley said.

Many of those displaced are low-income residents.

Rep. Jackie Speier, who represents Pacifica and much of the Peninsula, promised to help find state and federal funds to repair storm damage.

After touring oceanside neighborhoods, Speier said the federal government needs to respond to this year's El Niño the same way it responded to Hurricane Sandy, the 2012 superstorm that devastated parts of the New Jersey and Long Island coastlines.

"Highway 1 is in jeopardy," she said. "And the kind of erosion that’s taken place in just four days is dramatic."

Although Pacifica has declared a local emergency, it hasn’t yet sustained enough damage to be eligible for relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.