Highway Patrol

Rain Pounds, Floods Borrego Springs

A summer storm pounded parts of San Diego County with rain Sunday, causing dangerous flash flooding.

On Sunday night, crews were busy clearing rocks and mud covering roads in Borrego Springs.

"I would say in an hour and a half's time I got 6 inches of rain," said Borrego Springs resident Virginia Perrine.

While crews cleared mud and debris from State Route 78, Perrine took matters into her own hands on Yaqui Pass Road.

She walked and talked while picking up sticks and kicking large rocks to the side of the road.

"I just hate to run into this with the car," she said.

Flash Flooding in San Diego County

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Warning around 1 p.m. Sunday for Palomar Mountain, Warner Springs and Ramona. The system then moved southeast through Ranchita and into Borrego Springs, which appeared to get the brunt of the storm.

The California Highway Patrol reported flooding on SR-78 and Yaqui Pass Road. NBC 7 viewers also reported high water on Palm Canyon Drive, Di Giorgio Road and Borrego Springs Road. 

"It was really a very lovely day, I took a nap and looked outside and it was coming down, it was coming down this way and this way," Perrine explained.

"So much water coming down the dirt road that it washed it out."

In San Bernardino County, one person was found dead in a car that was swept into a rain-swollen creek in Mount Baldy.

Flash floods moved mud, rocks and boulders, burying cars and stranding hundreds of people at the Forest Hill campground.

An additional 2,500 residents in Oak Glen and Forest Hill were blocked off by debris.

A San Bernardino County Fire spokesperson said it may be hours before crews can remove mud and rocks that are several feet deep on some roads.

In Riverside County, flash flooding washed away part of Interstate 10 east of Indio.

Jodi Kodesh’s Morning Weather Forecast for Monday, August 4, 2014

The Flash Flood Warning expired at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. A Flash Flood Watch remained in effect for the rest of the county until 8 p.m.

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