Homes flooded in Desert Hot Springs

People in Desert Hot Springs are cleaning up Wednesday after a quick summer storm left several inches of water in their homes.

Alejandra Serrano’s home was one of the hardest hit, “Its really sad. I really don’t want to cry, but its sad.”

After 20 minutes of rain, the Serrano family has quite a mess to clean up.

“Now I don’t know what to do. I’m going to call my insurance company, but I’m not sure if I have flood insurance,” said Serrano.

Muddy water flooded the garage and came into their home. Our crews were there as Serrano surveyed the damage for the first time.

“Yes, all over the place, the carpet, and the living room,” said Serrano.

The family tells us the problem isn’t with Mother Nature, it’s actually with a neighboring road. When it rains, all of the water on Mesquite Avenue runs right into the Serrano’s home instead of draining down the street.

Fabian Serrano watches his parent’s home flood every rainy season. “This is the first time that it actually went inside,” said Fabian.

Alejandra Serrano says, “I’m always here and I always take care of that. Today I wasn’t here.”

The Serranos first complained to the city two years ago.

“We sent an email after that with pictures and video and everything, and now I have this problem,” said Serrano.

Fabian Serrano says, “It’s frustrating because they have to deal with the city and they haven’t done anything. My parents tried in every way to get around this.”

The Public Works Department in Desert Hot Springs says they have listened and are working to solve the problem.

Hal Goldenberg, public works manager for Desert Hot Springs, says, “We hired Granite about three months ago for our 2012 Street Rehabilitation Project. Part of that project is to put an AC berm down the south side of the street.”

The problem for the Serranos is that phase of the project isn’t set to begin for another two weeks.

Serrano says, “We’ve got a lot of mess now and I’m not working now.”