Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Weott, CA

Weott is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Humboldt County, strung along the Avenue of the Giants in the flood plain of the South Fork of the Eel River, 233 miles north of San Francisco.

The name Weott is believed to come from wíyat, the Wiyot people's word for the Eel River delta country far downstream, even though the town itself sits in the historic territory of the Sinkyone peoples.

Before 1925 the settlement was known as Helm's Camp or Helm's Mill, a camp where redwood railroad ties and shingles were made; residents adopted the name Weott when they applied for a post office in 1925.

Weott's modern history is defined by two Christmas-season floods: the December 1955 flood partially destroyed the lower town, and the December 1964 flood — the greatest in the recorded history of California's North Coast — essentially washed Weott away, cresting some 33 feet above the old main street, where a flood pole still marks the high water.

Because of the floods, nearly all of Weott's residents now live on the hillsides above the flood plain, at elevations of roughly 390 to 660 feet, and only one house was ever rebuilt on the old townsite.

Weott had a population of 219 at the 2020 census, down from 288 in 2010, living in 104 households that average just 2.11 people.

Weott sits at the edge of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which protects nearly 17,000 acres of old-growth redwoods including the Rockefeller Forest, the largest contiguous stand of old-growth redwood forest still in existence.

Weott has an intense November-to-May rainy season, with locals reporting typical rainfall of around 79 inches a year, while summer fog keeps most days cool.

Town water and sewer services are run by the Weott Community Services District, and local students attend the Agnes J. Johnson Charter School; the town is also a hub for the Avenue of the Giants Marathon, run since 1972, and the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon, run since 1976.