As blue skies and sunlight peered through dark gray rainclouds over Carmel Valley on Monday morning, residents on Paso Hondo pulled water-damaged possessions out of garages as disaster cleanup crews pumped floodwaters into the street. Firefighters from Monterey County Regional Fire talked with the residents who were under voluntary evacuation.
Workers from the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District assessed the Carmel River, which was running heavily behind the little league baseball diamond on Dampierre Park behind the flooded homes.
The first report of severe flooding came in to the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services around 9:30pm Sunday night. OES officials first called for a mandatory evacuation of the neighborhood, but arrived at the scene and downgraded it to a voluntary evacuation based on the scale: Ten homes were flooded, five of them severely.
Two residents evacuated, one hospice patient was relocated to a hospital, and one elderly resident was relocated to her son’s home, according to OES Manager Gerry Malais.
County officials set up an evacuation shelter at Carmel Middle School, but no Paso Hondo-area residents were using it; it was occupied by three homeless people and two dogs, Malais says.
More rain is predicted Monday and Tuesday, but Malais says the Carmel River flooding event—which ended around 2am Monday morning—is likely over. “It’s receded 2 feet already,” he says, “so the water isn’t anywhere near the bank.”