A wild storm churned through the Central Coast Thursday, flooding parts of downtown Santa Cruz and Capitola Village before noon.

The brunt of the storm hit Santa Cruz County around 11 a.m. At 2 p.m., it was north and mid Monterey County's turn to get drenched.

PHOTOS: Storm damage across the Central Coast

More than 15 homes on Russell Road in Salinas flooded at 3:30 p.m. A KSBW cameraman and reporter saw firemen carrying residents out of their homes to safety, and 30 residents had to evacuate.

Firefighters said the emergency was caused by a nearby farm field's irrigation ditch breaching in two places.

Houses that rely on septic tanks were surrounded and flooded by two feet of contaminated water. Firefighters witnessed water levels continue to rapidly rise one foot. Crews said it will take heavy machinery and several hours to clean up the Russell Road flood.

VIDEO: Rescues on Russell Road

An 11-year-old boy at Gateway School in Santa Cruzwas trapped for 15 minutes when an 80-foot Cypresstree fell on him.

The student was next to an 11-year-old girl outside on Gateway School'splayground when the tree fell on top of both of them at 8:30 a.m.

"There were a number of children in the area waiting for the school day to begin. The downed tree fell across a picnic table where students were congregating. When the tree fell, it trapped an 11 year old male student underneath," Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said.

Read this article:
Santa Cruz student pinned under tree; Tile falls in Scotts Valley High classroom

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December 12, 2014 at 1:29 am by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Tile Work