Floodwaters surge in Lake Elsinore neighborhood; homeowners fearful of structural damage

A rain-swollen creek in Lake Elsinore wiped out chunks if land behind Robert McDonough's home.

The water nearly overflowed its banks, moving so intensely Mcdonough's neighbor's brick wall crumbled under the pressure. It also caused the home's natural gas line to snap.

"The pressure of the earth dropping was too much and it just snapped like a bone," said Captain Don Camp with Cal Fire.

That home is now red tagged, considered uninhabitable, the people who live there were rushing to pack up what they could Thursday night and evacuate.

Officials say rain from the higher elevations came rushing down into the neighborhood near the Holy Fire burn area. At one point, they say, the creek was up to 10 feet deep and 100 feet wide.

"All the debris from the fire, there's nothing holding it. That whole mountain, it just comes right down here," said McDonough.

It wasn't just water residents had to worry about, crews were also cleaning up mud and debris flows.