Water main break in Desert Hot Springs floods homes, ruins Christmas presents
Robert Smith awoke around 1:30 a.m. Sunday to his neighbor pounding frantically on his door. His house, along with most others on his block of Fourth Street in Desert Hot Springs, was being flooded due to a water main break.
At least 10 homes near Fourth Street and Mesquite Avenue were affected by the break just after Christmas, with several residents reporting that water from the flood reached about 18 inches inside their homes. Others said it was up to their knees.
"We'd just celebrated Christmas, so anything we bought and put under the tree is ruined," Smith said. "My godchildren were here, but they had left before the flood. Imagine [if] they were [still] sleeping over on the living room floor."
Nobody was reported injured in the flood. At Smith's home, his four dogs were unscathed as well.
Marion Champion, the manager of programs and public affairs for the Mission Springs Water District, said the cause of the main break stemmed from the roots of a Tamarisk tree.
"There was a Tamarisk tree whose roots grew into our system and caused the break. Those Tamarisk roots go very deep into the ground, so it damaged one of the water mains deep under the ground, one of our 12-inch water mains," Champion said.
Fourth Street and surrounding streets remained closed to traffic as of noon on Sunday.
The water district said around 1 p.m. that water service had been restored and staff continued to complete backfill, restoration and street cleanup activities in the affected area. It noted that "at no time did the water pressure or water levels drop to a point that would require a boil water advisory," but that both the water district and city officials were still determining the full extent of the damage.
Champion told the Desert Sun that five families that live in an apartment complex on Fourth Street were displaced and relocated to local hotels. But one resident of the apartments, Tim Leaper, said he was not able to get to the Aqua Soleil Hotel because he has no car.
"We're guaranteed one night in a local hotel, but they're not offering transportation," Leaper said. His only means of transportation — a new electric bike he got three weeks ago — was ruined in the flood. He said he would need a car to transport his belongings and his dog to the hotel, which is about two miles away.
"I didn't know what to grab. I ended up grabbing pants. There was no place to stand so I got dressed in the tub," Leaper said of his apartment flooding. "I saw presents and toys floating out in the street," he added.
Smith said only residents whose homes were considered to still be flooded were being relocated to hotels.
"I understand that," he said, but his wife, Anna Marie Smith, said that she did not know where they would sleep on Sunday night, because everything inside their home was still wet.
Robert Smith said he felt the city was not doing enough to help. He said that city workers had been checking in with residents all morning and that he had received a call from a representative of the water district, but as of late morning he had no indication whether he would receive any aid.
Champion, of the water district, said her agency was working on it: "We've got crews out there, cleaning up debris right now. We're working with the city and the emergency crew that responded last night," she said. "We'll be working with our insurance adjusters to try and help those families as well."
For now, the Smith family set up a GoFundMe account to receive any donations at bit.ly/DHSflood.
This is a developing story.
Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley. Reach her at eliana.perez@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ElianaPress.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Hot Springs water main break floods homes, ruins presents
