Rain, Flash Floods Impact Riverside County

Rain and flash floods triggered by the leftover moisture and energy from Hurricane Norbert pummeled the Coachella Valley and other parts of Riverside County Sunday, as the first thunderstorm of the day mushroomed in the mountains above La Quinta.

Shortly before 11 a.m., a strong stationary thunderstorm had developed over the Santa Rosa Mountains and was affecting California 74 (The Pines to Palms Highway), which links San Diego and the Coachella Valley.

But by the afternoon the fierce rainfall began to wreak havoc in eastern and western Riverside County. It even produced lightning that affected part of downtown Riverside.

Ten people stuck in their vehicles in flooded low lying streets had to be rescued. Those rescues were among the 60 calls for service dispatchers in Riverside received from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Riverside Fire Battalion Chief Tony Perna said.

One of the calls involved a lightning strike to a tree that snapped off a branch at Lime and 3rd streets, Perna said.

Riverside firefighters got even busier when a gas meter at a home in the 4700 block of Chicago Street caught fire. No one was hurt during the blaze, Perna said.

In other areas, heavy rainfall and toppled trees forced the closure of Chicago Avenue between Ransom Road and Canyon Crest Drive, Perna said.

The heavy rains spared no areas east of the county as the stormy weather clobbered Riverside.

The California Highway Patrol took a 911 call at 12:32 p.m. from a someone at a home and reported being trapped because of flash flooding along Highway 74 east of the Cranston Ranger Station 49 miles from the county line.

An outage that blacked out 37 addresses on Falls Creek Road and Hicks Lane near Idyllwild was reported, according to Southern California Edison web site. A restoration time was not immediately available.

By 1:52 p.m. firefighters were dispatched to the 44000 block of east Highway 74 near Mountain Center about power lines down, Cal Fire reported.

In Riverside, all lanes of Interstate 215 northbound at Blaine Street were flooded, and trees were reported to have toppled in the 800 block of Via Mindi in the Canyon Crest neighborhood, clogging storm drains and causing flooding, according to the CHP.

The hazards didn’t end there as the CHP shut down Highway 74 at Borco Street in Hemet east to the junction with Route 243 in Mountain Center because of floodwaters, debris and rocks on the road.

CHP authorities also went to Iowa Avenue and West Church Street in Highgrove on a report at 2:34 p.m. about a motorist who was stuck in his vehicle because of heavy flooding.

Sheets of rain pounded Riverside throughout the afternoon as multiple reports of flooded streets, fallen trees and homes with roofs with caved in roofs were reported.

No water rescues nor any injuries tied to the stormy weather were reported, Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Hagemann said.

The National Weather Service predicted in its flash flooding that parts of southwestern Coachella Valley, which included La Quinta, Indian Wells and Oasis would be affected.

— City News Service.