Historic Black community in Tulare County under evacuation order due to flooding

Robert Kuwada
·2 min read
11
An excavator drops rock and dirt to stop the breach in the levee along Deer Creek Saturday afternoon, March 18, 2023.
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The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for all homes and businesses in Alpaugh and Allensworth on Sunday morning due to recent flooding and the possibility that residents could become isolated or trapped due to impassable roadways in the area.

The order includes all roads, avenues and access roads within Alpaugh and Allensworth, a historic community founded by African-Americans in southwest Tulare County. On Saturday, the area was threatened after a breach in a nearby creek bank.

An evacuation route in Alpaugh is along Avenue 54 westbound to Virginia Avenue to 6th Avenue, then 6th Avenue to Utica Avenue westbound to Interstate 5. For Allensworth, the evacuation route is Palmer Avenue eastbound to Highway 43, Highway 43 to Garces Highway and Garces Highway eastbound to Highway 99.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux also is urging people to stay away from waterways due to increased river flows. A flash flood watch was issued for the Sierra Nevada foothills as well as Fresno and Tulare counties from 11 a.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. Areas in the San Joaquin Valley could see up to an inch of rain, and the Sierra could see from 1 to 3 inches of rain and 6 to 12 inches of snow in some places, according to the National Weather Service.

Alpaugh and Allensworth were among areas in Tulare County under evacuation warning on Thursday, asking residents to prepare in case they are asked to leave due to flooding.

Crews were working Saturday to stop flooding from Deer Creek near Road 88 just north of Allensworth in southwestern Tulare County, according to Cal Fire spokesperson Jazz Shaw.

Col. Allensworth State Historic Park was not flooded, Gloria Sandoval, deputy director of public affairs for California state parks, said in a 5 p.m. Saturday email, “and the park is open to day use and camping.”

The rural state park in the South Valley celebrates the success of the only California town founded, financed, built and governed by African Americans.

A new effort launched last year to restore the park, which is named after Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth, the founder and a retired Buffalo Soldier in the Army.