The day after: Coachella Valley begins recovery from Tropical Storm Hilary

It wasn't only the calm after the storm. It was time to get to work.

As the sun returned Monday to the Coachella Valley, residents, business owners and public safety crews began the job of assessing the historic damage wrought by Tropical Storm Hilary — and, in at least one city, rescuing people still trapped inside due to flooding.

In a Cathedral City mobile home park, dozens of people reeled from the damage floodwaters brought to their homes. Elsewhere in the city, firefighters were rescuing 14 seniors trapped in a home care facility in the afternoon.

Many roads in and around the valley remained closed much or all of the day, including 20 miles of Interstate 10, although the freeway began to reopen Monday afternoon. Also closed were many schools, public spaces and recreation areas. Standing water and fallen trees were widespread.

Beyond simply waiting for the water to recede, there were major repairs to make in places, including a sinkhole at Washington Avenue and Fred Waring Drive in Indian Wells. In Indio, part of Avenue 44 had eroded away.

In Palm Springs, crews were still assessing damage as several major arteries remained closed, City Manager Scott Stiles said.

But aerial photos appear to show some damage to Indian Canyon Drive, and Stiles said: “We are going to have to figure out how to get it repaired, how to reinforce the shoulders and do that. That is all going to be part of our next phase of our recovery.”

He said it takes time to assess whether there’s invisible damage to a road’s underpinnings. In addition to the lengthy expected closure of Indian Canyon Drive, Stiles said Gene Autry Trail and Vista Chino likely will remain closed for days.

The amount of rain that inundated the valley was almost — though not quite — unprecedented in recent memory: In 2019, a Valentine's Day storm brought 3.69 inches, compared to Sunday's 3.18 inches.

But otherwise, there hadn't been a wetter day since World War II, when two winter days in 1943 saw huge rainfall.

Even amid damage, Kate Ebbs was counting her blessings Monday as she cleaned up bark and other debris in the Sandroc Condominiums neighborhood in Palm Desert.

Two uprooted trees had fallen, but neither hit homes nor parking stalls. On Sunday, the street had been flooded with ankle-deep water, a few roof tiles were ripped off and power went out for 30 minutes.

“We’re lucky,” Ebbs said as she worked Monday. “God was all over this blessing.”

Elsewhere in Palm Desert, Brett White was walking through a neighborhood along Highway 74 to see the damage early Monday.

“I’ve seen some rain and lots of wind in the desert,” he said, “but this one takes the cake for wind and rain.”

White does handyman work and was waiting for calls to start pouring in.

For those lucky enough to escape major damage of their homes, life did return to normal, even if it seemed surreal at times.

In La Quinta, people walked amid fallen trees as they walked their dogs or sipped coffee at the Starbucks in the La Quinta Village shopping center. At the city's Civic Center Park, multiple large trees were uprooted or snapped in half. People stopped on their morning walks to take pictures.

David Eves, who was with his wife, Sheila, and their dog, Libby, sat outside the Starbucks at La Quinta Village.

“They did a good job of getting the word out about the storm, so we were prepared and canceled a trip to stay home to be at our house during it, but not much happened at our place,” said Eves, who lives at PGA West. “This is definitely something unique and something you don’t expect to occur.”

On El Paseo in Palm Desert, there was scattered bark on the sidewalks and road. Otherwise, it seemed like any other morning as people strolled past shops with their dogs and stopped for a drink or a treat.

“This could have been worse,” said Ed Borders, of Palm Desert, who was out walking with his wife, Roxanne.

Borders said, though, that the storm served as a reminder that “climate change is real” and people need to take precautions.

Signs that read “flooded” still stood along Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage, a remnant from Sunday when drivers had to slowly wade through several inches of water from the storm. By Monday, however, the streets themselves were dry and mostly clear, aside from some leftover sand, mud or bark from palm trees.

Roads at washes in mid-valley, however, were closed due to floodwater and mud, including Frank Sinatra Drive, Country Club Drive and Parkview Drive in Rancho Mirage and Fred Waring Drive in Palm Desert. Curious residents came to get a peek at the damage, including a man on a scooter on Frank Sinatra Drive who filmed as water and debris, including tree branches of all sizes, flowed in the wash.

Even the historic figures for rain that fell in the valley itself don't account for all the water that filled those washes. Much of it came down from the mountains, where even more fell — a foot or more in some places, according to National Weather Service and NOAA readings.

If anything was a sign, perhaps, of the slow march back to normal, it was the weather forecast. The clouds had cleared, but Monday was still unseasonably cool, with highs in the 80s.

It'll get warmer through the week: Tuesday in the 90s and then back to the usual triple digits.

And after Hilary, that just might be welcome news.

Desert Sun staff writers Paul Albani-Burgio, Larry Bohannan, Christopher Damien, Ani Gasparyan, Shad Powers, Erin Rode, Matt Solinsky and Janet Wilson contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs, Coachella Valley recovering from Tropical Storm Hilary