Woodlake residents worry about incoming storm, city officials say flooding was unavoidable

WOODLAKE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Residents in Woodlake who have been hit hard by recent floods are bracing for more wet weather.

"We just don't know what's going to happen, until it happens," Woodlake resident Dave Vance said as thunder cracked in the background.

As another storm rolled in Tuesday, Vance said he was bracing for what's to come.

He lives on Kaweah Avenue, a street that was hit hard less than two weeks ago as rain and storm runoff flooded his neighborhood.

Water didn't make it inside his home, but it got close.

He and his wife were taken by boat out of his home in the middle of the night, at the recommendation of the fire department.

"We've lived here since 2013 and I never ever expected to see something like this. It was just unbelievable," Vance said.

His two next door neighbors weren't as lucky.

Water made it inside and destroyed much of their homes.

About three dozen residences in total were damaged.

Pumps are now set up on their streets to divert water from the storm drains.

At an emergency meeting Monday night, many residents claimed the new development contributed to the flooding of older homes off Cajon Avenue.

Woodlake Mayor Rudy Mendoza says the new development had nothing to do with the flooding.

He said city staff, along with the engineering company hired by the city, reviewed their work.

"The one thing that we were able to show is that regardless of whether the homes were built there or not, this would've occurred anyway just because the amount of rain that's coming from antelope creek," Mendoza said.

The city has extended its emergency declaration to ensure resources from the county, state and federal government.

They've prepositioned more than a dozen pumps around the city and added in K-Rail and sandbags along Cajon Avenue to divert water away from the neighborhood that was already damaged.

Tuesday afternoon, public works loaded up more sandbags and added them to the K-Rail to prepare for more wet weather.

If anybody needs any kind of assistance whether they think we can help or not, just give us a call at city hall.

City officials say they're waiting for assistance from FEMA.

If your home has been damaged, you're asked to contact the city, so they have an accurate account of how many homes have been impacted.