During the night of February 13, into the morning of February 14, the City of Avalon was plummeted by almost five inches of rain. Thousands of gallons of water swept tons of rocks and tree branches down Pet Cemetery Canyon flooding homes in the Sol Vista Condominium complex. Eric and Cindy Mahan who live across the street from the pet cemetery were advised to evacuate in the early morning by local authorities due to the flooding of their home. Kathy and Dudley Morrand who live on Canyon Terrace were pumping water from their patio at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Kathy said the water and mud came within two inches of going into their home. A pet grave memorial sign was recovered floating in Avalon Harbor.
In true Islander fashion Jonny Quranstrum and Weston Leonhardi, residents of the Sol Vista Condominium complex, sprang into action in the middle of the night diverting water from their complex away from the homes. Jonny took a brand-new extension ladder, made a rock barricade with it to divert water flow. The flow was so powerful that the ladder was twisted like a pretzel within minutes. Thursday morning many Avalon Residents were hard at work helping neighbors with water and mud damage.
Avalon City Crews responded with manpower and heavy equipment the help the residents and divert the water flow early Thursday morning. It will take several days to clean up the mud and debris from the city streets. The good news from this storm is that the Thompson Reservoir is now full of water. Water is flowing over the spillway down Middle Canyon to the ocean for the first time in many years.
Jonathan Salter said he was awakened during the night sleeping on his 32-foot sail boat anchored off the Casino by huge waves and howling wind. Before he could get the boat underway the boat smashed into the rocks on shore just North of the Hamilton Cove Complex. Jonathan was washed overboard as the boat was slammed into the shore. He managed to crawl ashore uninjured while being careful not to be smashed by his boat.
