Skies in most of Riverside County were sunny and clear Sunday, but that wasn’t the case earlier when terrified motorists were trapped in rising flood waters from intense lightning and thunder storms in sparsely populated eastern deserts.
The thunderstorms Saturday caused flash flooding on roads in the Colorado River Valley as several washes overflowed and swamped some vehicles.
At 11:16 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported that four people in a Nissan Altima were trapped when their vehicle became stuck in flood waters on U.S. 95 near the Water Wheel Resort.
A Riverside County Fire Department water rescue team was deployed to pull them out.
About 10 minutes later, a Chrysler 200 with two people was reported mired 14 miles north of the Nissan.
An ambulance that attempted to drive to the Chrysler was overcome by over three feet of water and had to turn back, CHP said.
The Chrysler’s occupants were eventually pulled out of the water by firefighters.
According to the CHP, at least two highways flooded: U.S. 95 north of Interstate 10 to State Route 62 west of Parker, Arizona. And State Route 78 was flooded into Imperial County from Blythe.
Highway 62 was flooded east of 29 Palms and as far as Parker, Arizona earlier Saturday. But that route, which links Riverside County to Parker and Lake Havasu City, was reopened from Highway 177 east to Arizona Saturday, and Highway 177 remained open between Interstate 10 at Desert Center, and Route 62.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch through midnight for some parts of eastern Riverside County, including Chiriaco Summit, Blythe and other communities in the Colorado Desert, but the alert was canceled by about 6:45 p.m.
The agency had warned that “flooding of normally dry washes, low water crossings, and poorly drained intersections” was likely.
—City News Service