Piles of debris continue to grow after Thursday’s storm

The cleanup process continues Saturday after Thursday’s storm devastated parts of Palm Desert and Indian Wells.

Crews have been working nonstop in order to clear roads so people can get to their homes.

Trees were uprooted, car windshields were smashed and the pile of debris continues to grow.

Charlie Beall is used to storms but she never expected this.

“I came from Washington state and we have storms all the time and it rains a lot. Nothing like this, nothing, unbelievable,” Beall said.

She said the cleanup process has been nonstop.

“They’re doing a good job of it but it’s gonna take a while and of course it brings all the flies out,” Beall said.

When the storm came through you could barely drive on some roads, but now it’s a different story.

But there are still some areas left to be cleared.

Some crews have been out since 5 a.m. working for the second day to chop up trees and clear roads.

Experts said neither the drought, nor how deeply trees were planted, had anything to do with the trees that fell.

“Regardless of how you water, roots are going to grow wide and close to the surface,” said arborist Alan Hollinger.

He said storms of this magnitude don’t come around often.

“There’s probably been four or five events like this in the last 30 years. They’re usually localized in a very small area,” Hollinger said.

A lone stump is all that’s left of Steve Stock’s 30-foot tree.

“The tree went back to where the stumps are. I’ve been cutting it up this morning and Burrtec came by and got it pretty much for free,” Stock said.

While many are trying to remain positive during the cleanup, Beall can’t help but worry her air conditioning bill is going to go up.

“I’m missing my shade. I have no tree now cause it’s gonna get hot,” Beall said.

As crews continue the cleanup process many homeowners expect it will be a while before things are back to normal.

But they said they’re thankful all closed roads are back open.