STOCKTON, Calif. — It was all-hands-on-deck on Montauban Avenue in Stockton Monday.
“Right now, what we're trying to do is clean up all the leaves, maybe that helps it from getting clogged so we’ll see how that goes," said Stockton homeowner Rubi Huerta, standing next to a trash bin nearly filled with mud and debris from flooding. "But we're charging our batteries for our phones. We might have to get a generator since we don't have light."
With shovels in hand, Huerta and her family cleaned their cul-de-sac which was hit by flood waters after this weekend’s atmospheric river dropped inches of rain in Stockton.
Just up the street, receding water gave light to leftover damage including a gaping pothole in the middle of Knickerbocker Drive with mud and tree limbs scattered around the neighborhood.
On Hammer Lane, cars were left abandoned after being stranded in flood waters.
Meanwhile, in Lodi, downed power lines and trees blocked Lower Sacramento Road. The same situation closed a portion of Turner Road leaving much work for county and PG&E crews.
It’s a scene that Gus Salvador says he has noticed everywhere.
“It’s sad to see that we’re having so much problems with the drainage of the water but we’ll survive through it," said Salvador "It's been hard to get to certain places."
Hoping to prevent that story from happening to his own home, Salvador decided to fill up sandbags at Oak Park in Stockton.
For some, however, sandbags now are too late. Feet of water is rushing where cars usually drive on New Hope Road near the San Joaquin-Sacramento county line. Some drivers, stuck in the flood waters, were forced to leave their cars behind.
“All of a sudden the water rose," Masood Aryobi recalled of his New Year's Day drive along New Hope Road right as flooding began. "I tried to get out of the flooding water, but my car stopped working and the engine turned off."
While sitting in his disabled car, the waters rose again. This time, Aryobi called a tow company and 911.
"Through the window, I just climbed to the top of my car," said Aryobi. "Eventually, the water was rising and the firefighters showed up with a big truck and they just told me ‘save yourself, the water is rising, you have to leave the area.’”
The harrowing experience left him with a lesson and a message to share with others as more rain is expected.
"I've been telling all my family, everyone," said Aryobi. “When it's raining hard like this, don’t drive if you don’t have an emergency. Just stay home, be safe.”
Watch more from ABC10: Megaflood: What if the rain didn't stop in the Sacramento region? | To The Point full show
