Palm Springs Residents Clean Up After Flash Flood

Palm Springs, CA

Palm Springs residents have major clean up to do from Saturday’s storm.  Some streets were riddled with debris. A few days ago, rushing water filled the streets of the Safari Mobile Home Park. "It looked like Moses and the flood," said Nick Schulleri, who lives in the mobile home park.

Related: Spirit of Palm Springs Community Shines After the Storm: Rescue and Relief

Officers also had to rescue several people from the flash flooding. Sergeant Michael Casavan rescued a woman and her child from gushing waters. He said he’s never seen flash flooding so dangerous in Palm Springs, and it could of been deadly. "We’ve seen it before. We’ve heard reports of cars being swept or people being swept down wash. It’s absolutely deadly," Casavan said about dangerous the storm was. 

Residents affected by the storm spent the last three days cleaning up. "It just covered my entire property, a foot deep, front to back. Luckily I’m up in the air, but that doesn’t mean my tool shed, things I have stored underneath, all my plants, all my gravel. My yard is covered in muck," said Schulleri. 

Sonya Lopez, a resident in the Park Apartments, said the water damage is so extensive, it’s not livable. "You could see the carpet and the water on top of it. I put towels, blankets, and it didn’t help," she said. Lopez said the apartment smells like sewage from all the mildew and debris.

Francine Flores lives next door. She said her apartment is also soaking wet. "I know it does happen, but I was shocked that it did happen because we were so focused on Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma that I didn’t think it would happen here," Flores said.

Lopez, a single mother, said this is an added stress she doesn’t need.  "You don’t need this. You spend so much time and effort to buy your stuff, and from one day to another nothing, everything is gone."

Lopez said she and other residents have been begging the apartments to help fix the damage,  but so far no one has come. The Park Apartments told KMIR they are working as fast as they can to help each resident with damage from the storm.