“The emotion didn’t hit us until we saw how many people came out and helped us,” Woodhouse said. “We will recover from this. This is just stuff. But the friendships, that is what is important.”
Debris flows Saturday caused property damaged in several La Cañada Flintridge neighborhoods, including Paradise Valley, the Haskell Drive/Harter Lane area, Escalante Drive and Arroyo Summit Drive. Nine homes sustained structural damage and are uninhabitable. Two dozen additional properties sustained moderate or minor damage.
Forecast indicated the foothills could get more than an inch of rain Tuesday, and Los Angeles County public works crews were working furiously to clear what they could from debris basins.
However, amid the chaotic din of emergency sirens and backhoes emerged stories much like that of the Woodhouse family — two men wading into a flooded home to rescue an elderly woman, teenagers digging out trapped vehicles, neighbors sheltering the newly homeless.
“I remain so impressed and proud of the way our community has responded to the disaster,” Mayor Laura Olhasso said. “We have had more than our fair share of disaster this year and our residents have been wonderful in their immediate and compassionate response to helping those in need.”
Members of the Kiwanis Club worked quickly Monday to help remove items from Pat Anderson’s damaged home and ferried them to a storage unit. Kiwanis volunteer Wendy Alane Smith said that after all that Anderson, CEO of the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, has done for the city, she couldn’t imagine not coming to lend a hand.
“She has given so much to the community and we are just here for her,” Smith said.
