On August 21, Cathedral City Mayor Rita Lamb announced response efforts were underway following flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary, as of August 23, the City had made significant efforts clearing roadways of mud and providing aid to impacted residents.
“As we move into the recovery phase of this storm, I can assure you our city staff will do everything they can to help those in need,” Lamb said. “This was an unprecedented storm for our area, and we’re all in this together.”
According to a news release issued by Cathedral City, on August 23, the city’s Public Works Department made “significant progress” clearing roadways impacted by flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary. Currently, the City has asked any interested volunteers to report to the Volunteer Coordination Center located at Vista Chino, east of Panorama Road and West of Horizon Road.
As of Thursday, Vista Chino between Date Palm and Avenida Maravilla as well as Los Gatos Road at Date Palm Drive to Avenida La Vista remain closed. The city provided an update via Facebook explaining these roads would take “some time to clear”, but crews are in the area making progress. The city anticipates two lanes of traffic to be open by Thursday afternoon in both directions for Date Palm Drive between Vista Chino and 30th Avenue thanks to overnight efforts from Public Works crews and supporting agencies on Wednesday night.
The city explained cleanup efforts from local volunteers will be focused on private property located in Vista Chino on Thursday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, starting Saturday, the city will be closing the volunteer center, and Team Rubicon is anticipated to move in and assist with cleanup efforts over the weekend. Team Rubicon is a veteran-led humanitarian organization that was founded following the Haiti earthquake in 2010.. Team Rubicon is comprised of more than 150,000 volunteers across the United States and has launched over 1,100 operations globally.
