Valley washes flood for second straight day forcing road closures

For the second day in a row, flash flood warnings popped up over the mountains southwest of Palm Springs. And, there again, was a wall of mud and debris that raced downhill through valley washes.

The heavy rain continued to force ash and large debris leftover from this summers Mountain Fire down hill, demonstrating just how powerful the water can be.

Anita Carillo lives near the Palm Canyon wash and came out to watch the debris. She tells us, “Really kind of scary. The amount of erosion is pretty devastating and we’ve seen some really large palm trees sailing down here and it must have come from a long ways up.”

Some logs embedded in the mud reached upwards of 10 feet across, estimated to weigh more than 500 pounds. The roaring waters continued through the Palm Canyon wash over golf courses in Palm Springs, eventually making it to Cathedral City and finally Rancho Mirage.

Mike Toohey lives near the Taquitz Creek Golf Resort, where water over took several fairways. “You can totally hear it from the house,” Toohey says. “It was just, you know you hear (making flood sounds), whoa check it out mom, the golf course is flooded one more time.”

The water closed several major roads again on Wednesday, forcing most motorists to find alternative routes. The moving water also cut off residents at Palm Springs View Estates.

Out on a walk through that community, Roxann Burkey-Shalles was cut off by the wall of water. She says, “When ever we come to visit a couple times a year, I always come and take this walk and lo and behold you can’t walk down the road because there is no road!”

No injuries have been reported but, residents who frequent the washes for recreation know they have to play it safe.

Josh Wedel rides horses through the wash almost daily. “You want to be careful because you’ll get sinkholes and everything,” Wedel says. “You want to cross where there’s more rocky areas keep yourself safe and the horse. You just got to travel smart or just don’t go in there.”

Even with the detours and the mess, most residents can’t help but be amazed by the floods and are staying light hearted.

Looking out at the submerged fairway and scattered debris Toohey jokes, “This is hole 17 right here and it’s a par five, and this would be a great hazard right here.”