PAJARO’S QUEST TO REBUILD “After historic flooding, the California migrant farming community is trying to recover—even if help from FEMA is scarce.” 

Story and Photography by Zaydee Sanchez. June 1, 2023. For Mother Jones.

This past winter, California saw an unprecedented amount of rain, costing the state more than $30 billion in damage. In Pajaro, a small town of approximately 3,500 residents, 96 percent of whom identify as Latino, the unusual amount of rainfall during December drew concern. In January, after another storm, Monterey County issued an evacuation warning for Pajaro residents. It turned out to be a false alarm. Then, in the middle of the night on March 11, rain poured down once more: Lorena Roman and her family, along with hundreds of other residents, were awakened by city sirens and first responders banging at their doors, ordering them to evacuate. Overnight on the Pajaro River—which divides Pajaro and Watsonville in Santa Cruz County—a levee broke, causing a devastating amount of water to flood the town, displacing about 1,700 residents. (Full story - Mother Jones)