Heavy rain causes severe flooding in Ventura County

Yet another atmospheric river brought hours of precipitation to the Southland, creating a variety of issues for residents already struggling to deal with the impacts of other powerful winter storms that have hit in recent weeks.

Inches of rain fell starting late Tuesday evening, continuing through Wednesday afternoon before tapering off, but not before residents throughout Southern California felt the impact in the form of landslides, rampant pot holes and flooding in places like the San Bernardino mountains. 

In Ventura County, residents living near Coyote Creek were subject to feet of water and mud covering Camp Chaffee Road, which they usually use to get to and from their homes. 

The creek first experienced considerable flooding back in January, when one of the first storms of the new year made it's way through California. Somewhere along the creek's path towards the Ventura River, a blockage began to form, prompting flooding that impacted several residences.

In months since, with many more weather events occurring that time span, the creek has become clogged with sediment and debris leading the ground around the creek to become saturated.

As a result, the buildup is not draining, leaving dozens of families looking for other ways to access their homes. 

"This is a public county road, and they've not been able to get home this way, on a public road, since the end of December," said Iliana DeHoyos, who lives in the area. "Now there is an emergency access private road to the back of the hill, but it's single lane, bunch of switchbacks."

During the last storm, residents were advised to shelter in place as roads in the area were so severely impacted. 

"It's just been really frustrating and scary situation in general because we just never know what's going to happen with the next storm," DeHoyos said.

Tina Abe lives along Coyote Creek in Foster Park, noting that Wednesday marked the fourth time this year that they've had to clean out a part of the buildings on their property due to flooding. 

"It's just kind of demoralizing to see it happen time and again, every time it rains," said Tina Abe, who lives near Coyote Creek.

Now, they're working to clear the way with the help of local, state and federal government agencies. On top of finding an immediate fix to the problem, they're also hoping that a plan can be put in place to make sure that the area around their homes will no longer be subject to the severe flooding. 

"That's our main concern right now, it's been two months since the first significant storm and nothings been addressed," DeHoyos said. 

Though the area is part of the federal government's disaster declaration, neighbors say that they've been denied immediate assistance because the flooding has occurred mostly in yards and has yet to affect their living spaces.