Videos Show Residents Being Rescued From Catastrophic California Mudflow

Residents of a California neighborhood had to be rescued after Tropical Storm Hilary triggered a roaring mudflow, walloping homes and flooding streets.

Videos and photos shared on social media Monday night show dirt and debris-filled water inundating houses and submerging vehicles in desert resort hotspot Cathedral City in California’s Coachella Valley, roughly seven miles from Palm Springs. The mudflow caused several residents to become stranded overnight, including more than a dozen who were trapped in an assisted living facility, according to local media.

Rescue efforts are under way across the state as Hilary, which formed last week and intensified into a hurricane before hitting Baja California over the weekend. The storm has since weakened to a tropical storm as it moves inland. Torrential rainfall has slammed desert areas in Riverside County, including Cathedral City, Palm Springs and Death Valley National Park, which have faced catastrophic flooding and mudflows.

Newsweek reached out via email on Monday to the National Weather Service (NWS) San Diego office and Cathedral City Police Department for comment.

Hilary is the first tropical storm to make landfall in California in more than 84 years, bringing record-breaking levels of rain and dangerous flash floods to the state. In Riverside County, the heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding caused by Hilary decimated a bridge over the weekend.

Cathedral City council member Nancy Ross told local outlet KXTV that she estimates at least 60 homes in her community had been flooded, costing millions in damage. She referred to the mudflow as “quite a catastrophe.”

“It’s heart-wrenching to see in a senior community so many homes being really harmed,” Ross said. “Water underneath, potential mold going forward, how’s that abatement going to work? And on the flip side is who in the desert has flood insurance?”

The tropical storm caused several feet of mud to flood roadways and buildings, according to videos shared on X, formerly Twitter.

In a series of posts on Monday, NBC News climate reporter Chase Cain said at least 47 people in Cathedral City had to be rescued from the 5-foot-deep mudflow, which residents described as being “like quicksand.”

“Not leaving anytime soon … Some folks in Cathedral City have yet to leave their house because of waist deep mud in their street from Sunday’s historic rain — 4″+ They’re just beginning to clear the mud,” Cain posted shortly after 5 p.m. ET.

A video clip shared on X by Weather Channel reporter Charles Peek shows an aerial view of the mudflow’s aftermath, which includes dozens of vehicles submerged in the muddy water.

“Aerial footage of neighborhood flooded with mud flow in Cathedral City, CA,” Peek said.

Peek shared another video clip to X that shows crews rescuing residents from the mudflow.

“Resident are still being rescued from the mud flow in Cathedral City, CA this afternoon,” Peek said. “[They] are currently working on an additional 8 residents of an assisted living facility.”

Photos shared by Taya Gray, a photographer for The Desert Sun, show residents of an elderly care home being attended by rescue crews after being stranded inside the facility as the storm ravaged the area.

“Photographed a pretty unreal scene today: 14 people were trapped in an elderly home care facility overnight in Cathedral City in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary,” Gray said. “Thankfully, all were okay.”

The NWS San Diego office said the flash flood warning for the area will continue throughout Monday night.