Foothills Weather: Rain, Hail, & Flooding Slam Sonora
SONORA (CBS13) - Incredible videos came out of Sonora Wednesday afternoon after multiple storms hit Tuolumne County.
"I was shocked. I'm still in shock, look at the mess, and this is right downtown, surprising that we got so much," said Joe Marshall who took a video of water rushing all around his home.
Heavy rain mixed with hail turned roads into rivers.
"Oh look at this, my car! My garage!" he said while taking the video from his porch. "I cannot believe the water that was going into my basement, I could not believe it, it looked like a river."
The water was so high, a kayaker came paddling on by.
Another video shot by the CHP officers shows the Sonora Creek crashing over the bridge and slamming into the Save Mart.
Locals say storms came on after another.
"It's been raining on and off all day, but the heavy rain started mid-afternoon," said Michael Miller with Sonora Joe's Coffee Shop.
RELATED: Heavy Rains Flood Roads In Tuolumne County
Miller provides several videos to CBS13 showing the swift strength of a creek swollen into a river. It left behind a monstrous mess.
"I did not realize how bad it was," Joe Marshall said.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for Joe, all of that hail came off the street and swept away into his basement that's now multiple feet deep.
"It's like walking into a snow globe," he said. "My washer and dryer's had been moved, tables and stuff moved from the water that was going into my basement."
He says worse things could've happened.
"I'll do the laundry mat shuffle if I have to," he said lightly.
And after these storms, it looks like the entire city will be cleaning up a lot more than laundry.
All this high water has caused problems for AT&T downtown and the public works building that they were still trying to dry out late Wednesday night.
The city also experienced several power and phone outages, knocking out the dispatch lines for the Tuolumne County Sheriff and Sonora Police Department. The non-emergency lines were restored late Wednesday as crews worked to diligently to restore the emergency lines.