Desert Roads Back Open After Storm

Roads flooded from Tuesday’s desert storm started to clear up on Wednesday.

All of the streets closed because of the weather are back open.

But if the rain returns there are a few places you’ll want to avoid.

The Palm Desert area experieced a dusting of rain Wednesday and a News Channel 3 crew spotted lightning from Whitewater.

But overall the day was calm and some people were already asking for the rain to return.

“I think yesterday’s storm was really unusual and nice,” said Barbara Bergman, a driver.

Bergman said rain means that the heat is gone and that moist brush might calm the fears of a rash of wildfires popping up before the end of the year.

“I hope so,” she said. “I live in Pinyon, and we were looking at the fire hazard. I hope it puts an end to it.”

“The rain is really good for our valley,” said Lynn O’Donnell, a driver.

Flood Response is a 24-hour emergency water removal company in Thousand Palms — it is located next Rio Del Sol which has been flooded for the past two days.

“I’m actually taking two of my co-workers to their car because they had to park over on the street,” said Michael Ballesteros, who works for the company.

Cars still passed through the road but none of them got stuck.

Ballesteros said Flood Response received more than triple the usual amount of calls Tuesday from homeowners reporting water damage.

“We went out with our equipment and extracted the water and they actually had the rooftop tarped off until the weather started clearing and then we can go back and do our moisture monitoring,” she said.

The wash at Cathedral Canyon started to flood at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Cars continued driving through it until the Cathedral City Police Department called Public Works to install warning signs.

The road was shut down at around 8:15 p.m. and then reopened in the morning.

“We have kids in the desert that don’t ever see rain,” said Bergman. “I teach school — they loved it.”

Varner Road from Thousand Palms to Desert Hot Springs was back open after a mudslide shut the area down.

Drivers said avoid passing through flooded areas if possible.

But if the storm returns and you have no choice, drive “Real slow, and cautious,” said O’Donnell.

You can get First Alert Storm Team Coverage on Kesq.com and our First Alert Weather Channel on Time Warner cable channel 303.