5:30 pm – this just received from Monterey County Communications Center:

http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/PR_BigSur/

“This is what we have so far, I was not able to confirm the mail information, our Office of Emergency Services will do that tomorrow, as well as look into the UPS and gas supply question.
I hope what we have gotten is helpful. We will update tomorrow. I am working on getting a webmaster on standby next week when the weather is bad, in case things break late.”

I just checked out this site, and it looks extremely helpful. Looks as if this will be updated during the day, and possibly after hours as is necessary. Maia Carroll deserves the credit for getting this up and running so quickly. If you need or would like additional information, post below, as she is watching this post. Thank you all for pulling together and making sure that accuracy, openness, and sharing are a big part of who we are as a community! Kudos, everyone!

Monterey County Communications Center is busy setting up a dedicated page in order to keep people informed of this fluid situation. They have asked about what information would be of assistance, and this is what I have written:

“What we need to watch is the two remaining avenues out. N-F Rd. which is critical to residents has already closed a number of times this winter. Keeping it open and keeping informed on an HOURLY basis during the coming storms will be crucial. Keeping informed about the coming storms themselves will also be crucial. (Ed. note added later – this road is already county responsibility so information should be easy to obtain.)

There is a new slip out between the county line and Ragged Point that has seen considerable movement lately, and that bears watching, also. Staying up-to-date with that each evening and each morning is also important.

Also, concerns about mail, trash, business deliveries, schools, whether a “parking area” of sorts can be safely established near the slip out. UPS deliveries is also a big concern.

Coordinating information about all these services could be invaluable.”

If there are other concerns you have that you would like to see the County address, please leave a comment below that the County can then consider. Thank you.

7:30 pm – and so, I bid you goodnight on this eventful St. Paddy’s Day with this photo I just took. This is what I see when I am seated in my chair, in front of my computer, iPhone at hand, reporting as I do. Now you know my secret.

6:00 pm – The SLO Tribune has put together a photo gallery of three of these photos and a couple from Cal-Trans. It may be viewed here:

SLO Tribune

2:15 pm – and here is a very different angle taken by Justus Newman yesterday, only an hour or so after the slip out. Thanks to Justus and to Rob Weller, who sent it my way!

2:00 pm – here is a photo taken by Colin Maxwell from the north end today:

In recognition of the problems created for our tourism industry, I have changed the title of this post, but the reality is we don’t know when this closure will be sufficiently stable to allow even one lane open for the public – it could be one week, it could be one month. However, there have been several years in recent memory where the road was closed for several months – Hurricane Point and Carmel Bridge come to mind – and that is a possibility in this case, also.

Here are a couple great shots from our resident CHP Officer, Ben Grasmuck. What wonderful shots, Ben. As he says regarding travel in the foreseeable future, “Everything is up in the air, figuratively and literally.” He also reports that the NB lane has cracks in it, and is not safe, either. What a ride, huh?

1:45 am – I consulted with my reliable road source, and he says this will take a while to fix. It appears that the cribbing gave way, based on what he saw in the third photo below. He also suspects that the only way to fix this will be with tie-backs, as is being done at Dani Creek, near Lucia. I took photos of that just a few days ago and planned to post them, so will do that later so that all of you have an idea what might happen. In the meantime, I want to upload some photos sent by our resident CHP officer, Ben. Thanks, Ben!

10:30 am – this is Cal-Trans official press release sent out just a few minutes ago:

• Due to severe roadway damage to the southbound lane, Hwy. 1 is closed indefinitely north of Big Sur and south of Carmel at Rocky Point (PM 60.05). Crews are assessing the roadway to determine a repair strategy. All businesses along the coast Hwy. 1 remain open. Alternate routes include Highways 101, 68 and 46. An update will be provided as more information becomes available and/or conditions change.

Here is a photo of the slide taken by Matthew Kahlar and sent to friends of mine:

9:00 am – I spoke with a very harried Martin at the post office this morning who informed me that a decision has not been made about the mail, and that he would not be able to discuss it in any event. I then called Frank, the Postmaster in Monterey who informed me that frantic discussions were going on, but the logistics are so complicated a decision may not be made today. Contracts, vehicles, routes, and coordination with San Jose all have to be resolved before a decision would be made. In the past, it has come over N-F Rd. once a week, but this time they are discussing Cambria Post Office, as well as one to the East. I will do what I can to stay on top of it.

8:30 am – lots going on. Businesses trying to make arrangements for deliveries expected today, residents making plans for stocking up, staying with friends in town, or whatever needs to be done.

This is not something new. Hurricane Point closed for 4 months, shutting us off to the North. And remember 1983? The big slide cut the coast in half for over a year. We will Sur-vive – we always do.
Mail may only come once a week, but it will come. Tourists will come from the South and love the peace and quiet they find here. Locals will skate down the middle of the road (grins) and enjoy.

The forecasters are predicting heavy rain on Friday and Sunday, and this could impact the two remaining paths out of Big Sur, although both Cal-Trans and County Rds. will be working hard to get Highway One to the south open, and Nacimiento-Fergusson to the east open.

Here are some news photos my son sent me. Not sure which agency, but when I find out, I will give credit.

Also, my friend at NOAA has sent me some point and click links for weather forecasts for the specific area around the Rocky Creek slip-out which I will post here, as well as add to the link section to the right.

7-day forecast for 9 miles north of Big Sur

Very cool detailed forecast graphs

My personal favorite forecast page

5:00 am -If you saw the photos of this slip out, you already know this will not be an easy repair. Current information is that the highway will be closed for months, making trash pick up, mail, school, and town runs quite challenging. Alternatives are being pursued as stated by Rain, from the State Park, in her comment on the post below. Thanks, Rain!

I will update at a more reasonable time this morning.

The most incredible photo is in the Herald. I’m on my iPhone so not sure I can copy but here is the link, and if that doesn’t work, navigate from the link on the right under “news”
cid:image001.jpg@01CBE425.7BE095F0
http://www.montereyherald.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=17629879&siteId=570&startImage=1

The southbound lane of Highway 1 about 2 miles south of Rocky Point is gone and so is the majority of the northbound lane in Big Sur on Wednesday. (ORVILLE MYERS/Herald Correspondent)

Here is a link to a written report from KSBW but it doesn’t really add anything to what we all ready have and with that, at 9:30 pm, I bid you a good night. I’ll keep on top of this story tomorrow.

And from KION this photograph:

Here is KION’s link, which includes one more photo, as well as a report on conditions. KION

Everyone should keep in mind that the South Coast portion of Highway One is very fragile. We have a major slip out at Lucia being repaired, and there have been numerous slides at Mud Creek south of Gorda, as well as another possible contender for a closure going on between the county line and Ragged Point. My trip down N-F Rd. last Friday revealed it was in pretty good shape on the front or coastal side, but won’t know about the back or inland side until this Friday, and will report then.

Remember, many of our biggest slides and longest closures have happened in the Spring.

7:00 pm – one unconfirmed report is in that this will be closed for 5-7 days. I have not been able to verify this. FWIW, CHP says: “EMERGENCY VEHS CAN PASS AT THEIR OWN RISK”

At 5:04 pm, when I originally got the email from Soaring, and then again at 5:15 pm, when I got the call from a friend in town, nothing was on the CHP website. Now it says:

5:45PM 1039 ENTAC
5:44PM 1039 MTRY CTR
5:41PM POTENTIALLY SEVERAL DAYS IF NOT LONGER TO BE CLOSED
5:41PM 22B-CALTRANS ALSO EXPLORING IDEA OF USING PRIVATE AXESS RD JEO HWY 1, UNK IF AVAIL
5:41PM CALTRANS CHANGINGMESSAGE BOARD JSO CARMEL, UNK DURATION OF CLOSURE BUT IS LONG TERM
5:41PM HARD CLOSURE NB AT BIXBY AND SB AT PALO COLORADO
5:39PM 22B-1097, JSO ROCKY CREEK BRIDGE APPROX 40 FT SECTION OF RDWY TOTALLY GONE, CALTRANS 1097, CLSOURE IN PLACE
5:17PM PER CALTRANS, THEY ARE WORKING ON RDWY HOWEVER WANT UNIT TO CONFIRM THIS IS LONG TERM CLOSURE
5:16PM CONFIRM W/CALTRANS 1 LN RDWY CLOSURE FOR IMPROVEMENTS
5:13PM 1039 27-S7, SEND B WATCH UNIT
5:11PM PER RP 3/4 OF THE RD HAS GIVEN WAY
5:11PM RD CREW FLGMEN 1097/NO RADIO CNTACT

Highway 1 is closed by Rocky Creek, Post Ranch had an employee who was driving to town was turned around and had to come back to Sur. The road dropped 6 inches, and isn’t safe to drive on…. 5pm Weds. March 16, 2011. South bound lane, north of Old Coast Road, between Bixby and Rocky Creek. (Original report by Soaring, CHP is claiming 15 inches, but either way, it is serious.)

Also got a call from a friend who had clients down here who couldn’t get home to Carmel.

FWIW, when Rock Knocker and I drove this section on Monday, he was cackling over the drops and predicted this would happen.

Per CHP this section of the road dropped 15 inches overnight. SB lane pretty bad. Hard closure at
Just a personal observation – if CT can’t get one lane safely opened before dark, the road will be closed for the evening and work will resume during daylight hours.