Late night effort to prevent flood damage in Chualar

CHUALAR, Calif. (KION)

Roads are closed around Chualar Wednesday night, as water fills the streets from what is the biggest storm of the season. California Highway Patrol shut down Highway 101 South at Airport Boulevard in Salinas, and Highway 101 North at 5th Street in Gonzales, due to flooded roads in between the cities.

Fire crews were at Chualar Elementary School working to keep water from going inside. Not just there, but Monterey County Regional Fire District tells KION that three to five homes on Washington Street had water going into the properties. The fire district worked quickly to set up sandbags and pump water from the pond to keep it from spilling over.

“We’ve got some heavy equipment working, we’re attempting to pump water out of a holding pond and back onto a culvert on the opposite side of the road, we are placing sandbags in front of those homes and mitigating those issues, we’re just trying to get to the root of the problem right now,” Division Chief Eric Ulwelling says.

This is a developing story.