Uninsured La Quinta residents outraged at city over flood damage

Cleanup is underway after Monday morning’s torrential downpour.

Streets looked like lakes and people were forced to abandon cars stuck in the deluge.

“Looks like swimming pools, just like I can dive in,” said Cynthia Morris, a resident of La Quinta.

Crews worked quickly to pump water out of flooded structures like the U.S. Bank at the La Quinta Village Center.

But some of the worst damage was just across the street at the homes on Calle Obispo near Calle Tampico.

“I had eight inches in my garage, three inches in my house, and you couldn’t see the pool it just vanished underneath,” said Steve Cardinal, who has lived on the street for 20 years.

“It was six inches of water, destroyed the house,” said Steven Gardner, who lives next door to Cardinal.

Two neighbors, both living here more than a decade now have one major problem: they cancelled their flood insurance and they say the city is to blame.

“When I first moved here, I was carrying flood insurance that was $1200 a year and I went to the city about it they said no, we took care of it, it won’t flood anymore,” Gardner said.

“They sent letters saying we’re not longer in the flood zone,” Cardinal said.

So we went straight to the city’s Director of Public Works, Tim Jonasson.

He said after the city reported flood improvement work to FEMA, the agency designated that area as having less than a one percent chance of flooding.

“FEMA said we didn’t need to include them in the flood plain area. We gave them letters to that effect and it was up to them and their mortgage companies,” Jonasson said.

More questions remain, but these neighbors refuse to drown in their frustration as they prepare for more cleanup.

“Thank goodness the second storm didn’t come,” Cardinal said.