Residents Of Hemet, San Jacinto Still Cleaning Up From Flooding

HEMET (CBSLA.com) — Cleanup work continued Friday in Hemet and nearby San Jacinto, where homes were nearly wiped out by mud and giant boulders earlier this week.

In Hemet, KCAL9's Tom Wait spoke with Tammy Gavetsky, whose home was invaded by a river of mud and water.

"Our furniture was floating through the house," said Gavetsky, who has been temporarily forced from her home.

Contractors are now trying to put the pieces back together, but some of what was lost can never be replaced.

"Family pictures are all gone," Gavetsky said. "They were all on the floor level of the closet, so yeah, we've lost quite a bit."

Her boyfriend, Scott Groeschl, said the mud brought some invaders as well.

"Finding worms in the walls – in everything right now," said Groeschl. "It's kind of a slow process."

Workers are going as quickly as they can to make repairs at her home, but it could be up to a week until Gavetsky can move back in.

The swarm of mud and rocks unleashed by Tuesday and Wednesday's powerful storms will take time to clean up. At Columbia Street and Florida Avenue in Hemet, the floodwaters were several feet deep. Mike Davalos took photos … now he's trying to help get everything back to normal.

"We've been at it since 7 o'clock – we're still doing it now," Davalos said. "A couple of trips to the Dumpsters and we should have it all done."

In San Jacinto, county crews were making good progress on Gilman Springs Road, but the road that cuts through the sprawling complex of buildings owned by the Church of Scientology was still closed. The process here and back in Hemet is a painstaking one.

"Pretty much a bunch of mud," Davalos said. "About 6 inches of mud in the back, and right here in the front, where he's doing a lot of the work. So here we are."