Lomita residents survey flood and mud damage after storm

LOMITA (FOX 11) - It was a tough start to the week for people who live in the 2600 block of Cypress Street in Lomita.

The street, lined with apartment buildings, was turned into a river of rain on Sunday. It was the result of the worst storm in seven years.

The water raced downhill and then made a right turn into a complex where Farakh Chaudhry and her husband Navid Hussein live. When we spoke with her Chaudhry, she started to cry and talked about how high the water got.

"Things were floating."

Derrick Howard, who lives in the same building, thought what happened was "ridiculous."

"I went in to take a shower and I came out and out here. Everything was underwater," Howard said.

Water raced through his garage and into the apartment. It blanketed the kitchen floor, soaked the carpet, the electronics.

It also went into the apartment of Diego Molina and his wife Sonia Valero.

"It was a shock," Molina said. "Honestly, I'm just thinking about the consequences. The mold and all this stuff."

The mud and muck got into Carrie Nowecin's garage. She and her son Derrick Howard took off work to deal with the mess and size up the loss.

They got lucky. They live on the second floor, but their garage was flooded. The reaction was the same as all of her neighbors.

"Just shock," she said. "We're not in a flood zone so for this to happen is just crazy."

Back to Hussein. He's a technician trying to get his veterinary license. He looks at his expensive water-damaged text books and just shakes his head saying, "all the books… all those things. (I have to) start from scratch again."

Navid and Farukh don't have renter's insurance. Neither do Diego and Sonia. The loss is on them and it could be sizeable.

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