One Week Later, Damage Remains

Crystal Howe reads peacefully in quiet Sunrise Park, but just one week ago, “The wind just came through like crazy. It was out of nowhere. Nuts,” she said.

It went straight for her car.

“It got hit on the side, so hard. Rammed into it and slid down the whole passenger side,” Howe said. “So, now I’m on the bus, taking the bus to work. The good old busline, trying to figure those out. All the way from La Quinta to Palm Springs is quite an adventure.”

Just blocks away on Sunrise, a house hit hard last Saturday is still a mess. The house sitter said the insurance company assesses the damage this weekend. The home hasn’t had running water since the winds hit.

One week after the storm and people said they wonder when cleanup will finish.

“I can’t believe there’s still trees everywhere, on the ground, fallen over still. It’s been a week,” Howe said.

“Downtown Palm Springs seems to have cleaned up pretty well. But huge trees, it seems to get worse as we come this direction on Ramon,” visitor Diane Gramstad said. “It doesn’t look like limbs have been cut or much cleanup from this area, Sunrise, and over,”

Given the strength of the wind storm, they said it’s understandable.

“Some of these larger trees you don’t clean up in a short time, it takes quite a while,” visitor Joe Gramstad said.

“I guess it destroyed so much of the entire city, they’re probably working on it little by little,” Howe noted.

It’s a different story on Gene Autry. New metal poles now replace the old wooden ones. Howe said she hopes for a quick recovery for her car as well.

“Hopefully mid-February. I’m crossing my fingers. They give you an estimate date it’s going to be done. I’m crossing my fingers it’ll be done sooner, because it’s really had to get around the valley without a car,” Howe said.

So she waits, along with the rest of the city.