Cleanup efforts continued Monday in Cathedral City after Tropical Storm Hilary wreaked havoc on parts of Southern California.
Forty-seven people had to be rescued as floodwaters swept away cars and stranded drivers Sunday night into Monday, Cathedral City spokesman Ryan Hunt said. Rescues were approaching the “double digits,” he added.
“We got probably about 3 to 4 inches of rain, but it only takes one for things to get pretty dicey,” Hunt said.
Video showed water rushing down streets and leaving cars immobilized as mud-caked people waded through the water alongside rescuers. There were still stuck cars around the city Monday.
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“We were just driving. We ran into what we thought was just a puddle, and then we ended up getting swept away. And then once the water got up to the door, then we got out of the car, waded the water that was already coming, and then we went to the building and just waited there at higher ground," a woman named Britney said.
There were hundreds of power outages Monday morning, though that was down from a peak of 3,000, Hunt said. Additionally, the city’s 911 lines were down. People were being instructed to call 760-770-0303 instead for emergencies. There was no timeline for when the 911 lines would be restored, Hunt said.
Some 50 homes were damaged at a mobile home park in the city, with four people and a dog evacuated as a result.
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Crews were waiting for floodwaters to continue to recede. Due to its “relatively small staff,” city officials contacted the Red Cross for extra help, Hunt said.
