Cabazon community recovering after heavy wind damage
Athena Jreij
CABAZON, Calif. (KESQ) – A community in Cabazon is recovering after strong winds destroyed some of their property earlier this week.
Much of the damage is concentrated on Esperanza Ave, off Main Street in Cabazon, where News Channel 3 assessed downed trees, power lines, road signs and even trailers and manufactured homes toppled over.
Gregory Latham, a longtime Cabazon resident, said he’s seen extreme weather in the area but was surprised by the damage.
“A few times it had been so bad, the wind blew diesel trailers over that were on my property, and it had ripped big trees out of the ground. One time there was a river of water four feet deep in front of my place … My buddy’s roof ripped off and he had to pay several thousand dollars to get it repaired,” Latham said.
While Riverside County crews were spotted in the area, Latham says he wishes more proactive measures were taken.
News Channel 3 reached out to the county who said in a statement:
“In advance of the storm, the Emergency Management Department participated in coordination calls with the National Weather Service. Our duty officers have been monitoring for impacts from the storms, and we have had some localized reports of minor impacts such as down power lines, damaged road signs, and trees that were either knocked over or lost branches. There have been a couple structures that were damaged. So far, no residents have requested services from the American Red Cross. Storm events, such as this are a reminder, that residents should be prepared for extreme weather. Simple things like having an emergency kit and an emergency plan are vital. It’s also extremely important to slow down while driving in rain or snow, be alert for damaged traffic, signs or traffic lights that are not operating and to always remember that flooded roadways can be extremely dangerous and the water can be dangerous and may hide damage to the roadway. For prepared this information residence can go to RivCo ready.org and we encourage everyone to sign up for the Alert RivCo emergency alerting system through our website.”
The county is asking residents to report damage in the area to 951-955-6899.