Overnight rain troubles Imperial Valley
The dark clouds and weather brought just over a half of an inch of rain to the Imperial Valley last night and with it a slew of problems.
“The heavy rainfall has really increased the number of calls we have been receiving, and the type of calls we have been receiving is a lot of traffic collisions,” said Fernando Alvarez, Public Information Officer of California Highway Patrol.
The California Highway Patrol reminds people to drive slower when roads are wet as conditions can become dangerous.
“There was a fatal accident that occurred in the area of State Route 78 intersecting with State Route 86 and for unknown reasons both vehicles entered the intersection and both vehicles collided causing a fatality on one of the vehicles,” explained Alvarez.
The local Walmart in El Centro was forced to close last night as a result of the rain.
Customers showing up to the store today are being turned away and some are being told that the puddles inside the store are worse than the ones outside.
“We’ve been here two days now from Washington state, we forgot our hangers for our clothes, the guy said there is more rain inside than there is outside, so that’s going to cost them a bundle,” explained travelers from Washington.
Our news team contacted corporate communications representing Walmart and they issued a statement that reads:
“We were forced to close our store after it was damaged during the recent heavy rains. Crews are working to repair the problem, and we look forward to reopening soon.”
“Apparently the membrane that covers the roof had some leak points and so the water was running subsurface and into the building so we had to close it due to safety reasons for personnel,” said Chief Trey Faubion, El Centro Fire Department.
No word yet on when the Walmart location will reopen. The El Centro Fire Department is set to meet with Walmart officials this afternoon and hope to have the doors open sometime this evening.
