‘The whole house has to be redone again:’ Hilary damages 40 homes in Cathedral City’s Canyon Mobile Home Community
About 40 homes were damaged by Hilary in the Canyon Mobile Home Community, and some of those repairs will cost tens of thousands of dollars.
We spoke to residents about the devastation firsthand and saw how Assemblymember Greg Wallis is trying to help.
Hilary damaged the home of DeVonn and Russ McDonald.
"I'm legally blind and my wife has dementia, and you don't want stress in your life," said Russ McDonald.
Unfortunately, that’s been what Hilary has brought to dozens of residents at the Canyon Mobile Home Community
We asked the couple what the storm looked like while it was happening.
"Scary, you don't know when it's gonna stop," said Russ McDonald.
The flooding broke a water line in their home.
"We didn't have the water, didn't have hot water, couldn't run the cold, couldn't run the dishwasher or the laundry," said Russ McDonald.
Their home is now back to normal, unlike their neighbor Susan, whose home saw the worst of damages.
"She's devastated right now. Her reaction when I called her and told her was, 'Not me, not again' because it happened in 2019," says Susans friend, Carol Peach.
Peach says Susan has been in the hospital for some time, and she's helping her clean her home.
We walked around the home's living room and saw water seeping from the carpet.
"Everything has to be ripped out, the whole house has to be redone again, and the underneath the house is the biggest problem because mold will accumulate under the house," said Peach.
Restoration experts saying the damage can cost up to $15,000.
"So now she's at a loss, how's she going to pay for this again?" questioned Peach.
A couple houses down, Bill Norgaard says a sinkhole in his backyard kept his home from seeing similar damages.
"It drained the excess water into the next community because the drains couldn't take it," said Norgaard.
He shared video of the flooding while Hilary was passing the valley, the water was almost up to his knees.
"The water that rushes in from the other communities overwhelmed our drains, and the water kept rising and rising," said Norgaard.
Residents are trying to figure out if they’ll get any assistance.
"I think the park should be responsible because they own the land, and I think they own the drains...I only own the house," said Norgaard.
"Insurance is saying, 'You're not covered,' and the owner is saying, 'Not my problem,''" said McDonald.
Assemblymember Greg Wallis visited the mobile home park to assess the damages. He says the next step is helping residents rebuild.
"We need to make sure that we're bringing in resources from the state level so that our residents don't have to brunt the entire cost of that," said Assemblymember Wallis.
We asked if there was anything Wallis would tell those that are having trouble with the insurance, or if he had any word for the owners of the mobile home park who are allegedly not taking responsibility.
"Just reach out to our office, reach out to your County Supervisor's office and let us know what's going on firsthand. Each situation is going to be different. It's gonna be more of a case-by-case basis. But if you need assistance, that's what we're here to do," said Assemblymember Wallis.
We brought these concerns to the Canyon Mobile Home Community managers, who say they have no comment at the time while they try to deal with the cleanup.
Cathedral City and Riverside County have both declared a local emergency to receive federal and state assistance.
