Fixing the damage from Hilary will cost tens of millions of dollars in Coachella Valley

It will take months — and tens of millions of dollars — to rebuild what Tropical Storm Hilary destroyed in an afternoon in the Coachella Valley, city leaders say.

As the valley recovers from the severe flooding brought on by several inches of rain to the low desert, local officials and public safety crews have spent this week starting to assess the damage.

The extent of Hilary's impacts varied across the valley, though its effect on commute times has been widespread. Portions of some roads remained closed much of this week, snarling traffic even after Interstate 10 was reopened the day after the storm. And some key thoroughfares, including Indian Canyon Drive, may take months to repair.

In Cathedral City, torrential mudflow forced the rescue of at least 46 people, including more than a dozen seniors who were taken out of a home care facility using earthmovers. As residents and public works crews continued to dig out of the mud days later, city officials submitted an estimate to Riverside County saying there was $24.5 million in damage to public property.

Other areas reported comparatively little damage, with the city of La Quinta, for example, expected to have its roads cleared by the end of the week. After past storms wreaked havoc on them, two cities — La Quinta and Palm Desert — credited their investments in flood prevention as key to reducing the storm’s impacts.

Given the high costs of repairs, especially for some cities — the mayor of Desert Hot Springs estimated there was $20 million to $30 million in damage there — local officials are working quickly on their evaluations so they can request state and federal assistance.

Following an aerial tour of the Coachella Valley on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz estimated total damage across the valley could total as much as $100 million. Ruiz and other area legislators are calling on President Joe Biden to declare a major disaster in the region.

‘We dodged a big one’

While they assess Hilary's impact, city officials from across the valley praised residents for taking the storm threat seriously.

“I think we dodged a big one, but at the same time, our residents did a great job of preparing,” Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez told The Desert Sun. “They really heeded the warnings, so the day of the actual storm, there were very few cars.”

While hundreds of trees fell across the valley during the storm, officials were still determining the extent of other damages, particularly to roads washed out by massive flows of mud and debris. Hernandez estimated Avenue 50 at the wash would be closed for two to three months for repairs.

More: How to help those affected by Tropical Storm Hilary in the Coachella Valley and beyond

Nearby in Indio, a stretch of Avenue 44 saw a major washout, which City Manager Bryan Montgomery estimated will cost $1 million to fix. Cleanup and repair of other public infrastructure could cost another $500,000, he said, adding that damage to private property was unclear but "likely at least that high."

Hernandez, who is chief of staff for Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, said Thousand Palms, which saw major flooding that caused a lengthy closure of Interstate 10, is the county’s “main area of concern.”

The state is responsible for repairing the damages to Interstate 10, and Caltrans officials were on the scene this week to begin assessments that are likely to take days more, said Riverside County Emergency Management Department spokesperson Shane Reichardt.

Hernandez, in his work for the county, surveyed other unincorporated communities, including Mecca, Thermal and North Shore, on the day after the storm, and he said lingering issues there were largely related to debris and mud left on roads.

“Mecca drained very well,” Hernandez said. “At this point, what we’re looking for is getting the street sweepers in. There wasn’t a lot of standing water that we identified, and the same can be said of Thermal."

Palm Desert, La Quinta learned from history

La Quinta saw some roads, along with Dune Palms Bridge, temporarily closed due to flooding, as well as slight damage from fallen trees. Overall, Mayor Linda Evans said city officials were feeling “really good.”

Evans pointed to recent steps taken by the city that helped reduce the risks of major flood damage, after a 2014 storm brought several inches of rapid rainfall to La Quinta, causing major damages to homes and streets that cost $14 million to repair.

That storm — which led to the city paying nearly $1 million in a court settlement to residents whose homes were damaged — sparked action from the council. Key to their efforts was La Quinta voters’ 2016 approval of Measure G, an initiative that raised the local sales tax by a full percentage point.

Since then, the city has spent roughly $15.5 million on drainage improvements for its main arteries, including Washington Street and Eisenhower Drive.

“That investment paid off really well during this storm,” Evans told The Desert Sun.

The city has a few remaining drainage improvements that are expected to cost another $7.6 million. One along Avenue 50 at Eisenhower Drive is the next priority.

Likewise in Palm Desert, Mayor Kathleen Kelly credited the city’s long-term planning and investment in flood infrastructure. The mayor added the storm’s impacts should be largely addressed within a couple weeks.

Palm Desert’s efforts to prevent flooding date to 1976, when Tropical Storm Kathleen caused major damage to the city. Much of it was caused by a wall of water that swept across a large swath of the city when two earthen dikes gave way, as “scores of homes were filled by several feet of mud,” according to past reporting by The Desert Sun.

More: Take a step back in time: The biggest storms in Coachella Valley history

The calamitous storm, along with another in 1979, prompted city officials to build a six-mile channel from the Santa Rosa Mountains to the Whitewater River channel.

Since the early 1980s, special taxes on properties in Palm Desert south of the Whitewater channel, as well as in a portion of Indian Wells, have produced more than $60 million for flood prevention in the mid-valley, according to city officials.

“It’s so much more efficient to pay for prevention than to pay for cleanup,” Kelly said.

However, a few pockets of Palm Desert still saw substantial flooding. At Spanish Walk, a neighborhood between Frank Sinatra Drive and Interstate 10, six buildings were temporarily evacuated due to an electrical hazard, and roughly 30 people were relocated due to flooding damage on the buildings’ first floors.

Kelly said about half of those people were able to find their own accommodations with friends or relatives, while the city assisted others.

“I don’t think people will be back immediately, but we will make sure everyone is safe and housed until they can get back,” Kelly said.

Kelly said the Spanish Walk flooding was largely due to overflowing of a nearby diversion channel that connects to the Whitewater River, a regional issue she said “goes beyond the planning capacity of Palm Desert.”

The city is planning to add berms to minimize short-term impacts, but funding for major reconstruction would have to come from elsewhere, such as through an effort with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.

“This need to increase capacity in the mid-valley channel, which Hilary exposed, is new, so we’ll have to insert that into the discussion of the priorities,” Kelly said.

Cities look to quickly assess damages

This week, most valley cities were still evaluating the damages and weaknesses exposed by Tropical Storm Hilary, with county officials aiming to submit an initial funding request to the state by this weekend.

Palm Springs City Manager Scott Stiles said the city was still in “assessment mode” when it comes to determining the extent of the damages. But some of the most severe damage is to major roadways through the wash.

Gene Autry Trail and Indian Canyon Drive both sustained significant damage, with the latter's being the more serious of the two, city spokesperson Amy Blaisdell said. She added that the water hasn't even stopped flowing over Indian Canyon and may not do so for another week. It will take several days after that for crews to assess the damage.

Palm Springs' part of Vista Chino, a third flood-prone road, reopened Tuesday afternoon through the wash, although a portion to the east in Cathedral City remained closed.

More: Palm Springs leaders hope Hilary will boost efforts to fund bridges over the wash

Stiles said it’s too early to determine how much the storm might cost the city but that it will be a "significant amount," with costs coming from both damage repairs and from large amounts of overtime work for police, fire and other city employees.

Stiles was one of several city managers in the valley who issued a local emergency declaration, which he hopes will allow cities to get state or federal reimbursement for storm-related costs.

The costs in some cities could be steep. In a video posted on social media Tuesday, Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas said the storm’s impact was “pretty devastating” to many of the city’s thoroughfares.

“This isn’t something we’re going to be able to clean up tomorrow,” Matas said. “This is probably something that’s going to last months to be repaired.”

Crews in Desert Hot Springs were still clearing debris and evaluating damage Thursday, but officials expect the most repairs to be needed on stretches of Dillon Road, Little Morongo Road and North Indian Canyon Drive, Erick Becerril, the city's housing and community program manager, said in an email.

Desert Hot Springs estimates it will cost $7 million to repair Dillon Road between Ben Mar Drive and Cabot Road, $5 million to repair Little Morongo Road between Two Bunch Palms Trail and Dillon Road, $4.7 million to repair North Indian Canyon Drive between Mission Lakes and Pierson boulevards, and $5.5 million to repair Pierson Boulevard between North Indian Canyon Drive and Desert Trace Way, according to city staff's presentation during an Aug. 22 emergency city council meeting.

In Cathedral City, staff worked around the clock to clear Date Palm Drive between Vista Chino and 30th Avenue, opening two lanes by Thursday afternoon.

While the valley still has a way to go on its road to recovery, several officials mentioned their relief that no local deaths related to the storm had been reported as of Wednesday.

“When you have the 10 freeway with (multiple) feet of mud ... To not have fatalities, that’s a testament to the work our residents have done,” said Reichardt, the county emergency official.

Staff writers Paul Albani-Burgio and Erin Rode contributed to this report.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Repairs after Hilary may cost tens of millions in Coachella Valley