West El Paso residents assess flood damage, clean up

EL PASO, Texas -- Residents in Smeltertown, a small west El Paso neighborhood just north of Paisano and Executive, are picking up the pieces after heavy rainfall formed a rushing river through their properties Monday night.

Juliana Vasquez, a resident of Smeltertown for 77 years, had never seen rain flowing that heavily before.

“Oh my god, I said my house is gonna go with the river up to San Marcos and Executive," Vasquez said.

Vasquez built a temporary wall in preparation for the heavy rainfall, but very quickly those large pieces of wood were split up and sent all across her property. Her fence surrounding her property was pushed over at an angle by the rushing water.

A storm drain just above her property was clogged with mud, rocks, and even a tree. All the water that usually flows under the street was instead flowing over and into the Vasquez's yard.

Vasquez was busy at work Tuesday cleaning up the property. It's hard work for her age, but she is persistent to clean up the damage.

“It’s a beautiful, beautiful place. But now, with all of these things happening, it’s very dangerous to me," Vasquez explained.

More rainfall is expected throughout the week, and the storm drain was still clogged as of Tuesday night.