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Floods
By Kevin Walker
Well, to tell
you the truth I thought it would be like the
previous day when we were asked to help with all
the rain oriented problems around the City of San
Jacinto where I live. Nothing extremely serious,
just isolated homes and ranches that were on low
ground.
Five of us
(all valley residents) were helping to fill sand
bags at one of the local dairies, when Walt
Walker said that there was a more serious problem
at another location. Walt, Brian Hixson and Hal
Fulkman rode with Capt. Bill Park and Chris Noon
joined me in the rescue van. As we were driving
Chris and I talked about what could be wrong now.
Maybe some resident who had an excessive amount
of water flowing toward his house or something
like that. But instead of going to the area that
had been having all the problems, we headed
through the city and out to where our business
is, and where I live.
Just as we reached Arrow Printing,
it was a very bad feeling that I got as I watched
a 50 foot section of the levee break open. No
more fooling around, we had a real problem now.
To all the residents who had had problems
previously with water, I now knew what they were
feeling, because the mobile home where I live and
the business where I work was just about to
become a flood statistic. By the time we had
moved two picnic style tables around to the front
of our business and some large chunks of concrete
to weight them down, we were in water up to our
knees. By that time there was nothing more to do
but leave and try and help in the city. Brian
carried one of my dogs, while I led the other, a
large Blood hound. He was nearly having to dog
paddle to keep his head above the water. It
really was a helpless feeling to have to leave
your home surrounded by water.
Once back in
the city, we set up base camp on high ground
across the street from where my parents live. We
quickly started filling large plastic bags with
dirt from my parents' drive way. We were about
halfway complete with the shoveling when the
first trickle of water could be seen in the
street. In less than 15 minutes the water had
reached the top of the bags, and was starting to
lap over the top. The bags soon gave way and the
water came flowing into the property. We saved
what bags we could and put them in front of
doors, low windows, and the garage. While we
worked outside, my mom, sister, grandparents, and
friend of the family, Dona Towell, sopped up
water as it leaked through the exposed walls. The
water finally peaked out at about 18 inches on
Walt's house. By this time more team members had
made it into the valley and were ready to help.
With things finally straightened out at my
parents' house, we were able to start helping the
less fortunate.
Our first assignment was to check
some homes that were isolated north of the city.
To do so we would need a helicopter. That was not
a problem at this time as there were numerous
choppers helping to evacuate residents from their
homes. As luck would have it, a familiar white
and gold bird with blue trim was flying by at
that time, so with no delay Walt radioed to pilot
Don Landells and requested his help. Don soon
returned, and Walt and I were on our way to check
out the assigned area. It was strange to see all
the streets that I grew up on, to be totally
submerged under swift moving water. As we flew
over the isolated homes, one of which was my
grandparents', we saw that all were fairing quite
well under the circumstances. Since there were no
life threatening situations in that area we were
flown back to our base camp. Once back we were
assigned to check homes that were worst hit, east
of the city, and evacuate anyone in that area.
Pete Carlson remained at base while the remaining
10 of us were driven by a large lumber truck to
the homes in question. Once there we started
checking the homes that now had a good four feet
of water running into them. Those that we found
were all older people that did not get out in
time. All were in good spirits though, as we
helped them (carried piggyback style) to an area
where the choppers could land.
There was one
set of homes though that would be a problem
getting to. We would have to cross one street
that had a good five to six feet of water running
in it. Since the current was much too swift to
try and swim, a helicopter would have to be used.
After getting one to land on a small sand bar,
Walt and Rick lifted off to help those on the
other side of the street, while the rest of us
continued on the south side. Walt and Rick had
their work cut out for them.
They were let
out on a shed roof top, and then had to climb
down and bring one elderly couple out of their
home and then help them up onto the roof where
the chopper could set down.
As you can
see, we had a very long and very busy day. I want
to emphasize though that we were not the only
ones helping in the evacuation. The Hemet team,
Red Cross, Air Force, National Guard, Hemet and
San Jacinto Police, CDF, Sheriff's Department,
and many residents took part in helping those hit
by the flood. The water has since receded, but
the scars still remain. It was a day that I will
never forget. Years from now I will look back and
remember the Flood of 1980.
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