Meza family recovery from Tropical Storm Hilary

Hi, my name is Jerry Meza and I live on Horizon Road in Cathedral City with my husband John, our dog Max and cat Bella. Late on the evening of Sunday, August 20th, we were awakened by our dog to a raging flash flood of water/mud/debris entering our home through our garage from the street. The force was so powerful that it bent our garage door inward instantly filling our garage, destroying both our vehicles, and all personal belongings in there. It burst through our laundry room door that connects with the garage. We frantically grabbed as many towels as possible and anything to try and stop it from continuing to enter the rest of our home. We tried to exit our home through the front door but found ourselves blocked-in by a 5-foot wall of water/mud/debris. We were scared, nervous and panicked about what to do next. As morning came and the sun began to rise the true magnitude of the destruction on our street was apparent. Our beautiful neighborhood on Horizon Road was now a disaster area! Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, the city’s sewage began coming up from our toilets and bathtubs. The stench was horrific, but we had to scramble and soak it up with towels and rags and all by hand.

We were trapped in our homes for almost 4 full days before the tractors were finally redirected from cleaning Date Palm Ave and Vista Chino to our street. My husband John received a call from the mayor after he sent her a very stern email. When he asked why their priority was Date Palm/Vista Chino her response was, “school starts this week, and the cities priority was to get those school buses back on the streets and kids back in school”. That was unacceptable when they had residents trapped in their homes, frighten, confused, stressed, and injured. Our Mayor and City Council members all failed us!

Edison unexpectedly and without notice cut off our power for over 20 hours and what little food we all had left in our refrigerators was now spoiled and had to be tossed.

The reason we waited to create this GoFundMe page is because we wanted to meet with the insurance companies to see what and how much they would cover. Unfortunately, our flood insurance only covers the dwelling/structure and not any contents inside such dwelling. Our car insurance paid what we owed on both our cars, but nothing more. We now have to purchase two replacement vehicles. Other things that we will come out of pocket for are, all our landscaping that was destroyed, all my personal training equipment for Meza Fitness (treadmill, rower, mats, medicine balls, bench press/weights, kettlebells, etc.), garage cabinets, water cooler, and refrigerator.

It's very difficult for me to ask for assistance, but with the magnitude of this disaster we can't rebuild alone. Any dollar amount is helpful and will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.

With much love,

Jerry, John, Max & Bella.