00:00 Thanks to Tropical Storm Hillary, serious rainfall and flooding impacted many areas
00:04 of eastern Kern yesterday, even causing damage to some local businesses.
00:08 23 ABC's Dominique Lavignier spoke to one local business owner about how she weathered
00:14 the storm.
00:15 This flooded road off Sand Canyon and Cameron Canyon roads are the remnants of the storm
00:19 system that moved through Tehachapi on Sunday.
00:22 And flooding and road closures aren't the only things that Tehachapi residents are dealing
00:26 with.
00:27 Some business owners are dealing with cleanup as well.
00:30 Fans working to dry the water damage left behind at Sheridan's Home Consignment and
00:34 Decor after water began to leak from the ceiling Sunday night during Tropical Storm Hillary.
00:40 The roof leaked.
00:41 There's a couple big cypress trees and apparently all the weeds and needles from the trees blew
00:46 onto the roof and plugged the storm drain.
00:49 It's a flat roof and we cleared it right before the storm to prepare but it plugged the drain
00:54 so it backed up and we ended up with two feet of water on the roof.
00:59 And owner Virginia Sheridan says not only did the storm cause damage to some ceiling
01:03 tiles but the heavy rain canceled Tehachapi Mountain Festival, which took a toll on her
01:07 restaurant's business.
01:08 It ended Mountain Festival and it's a disappointment because I've been here over 25 years and I
01:13 love Mountain Festival.
01:14 Everybody pretty much loves Mountain Festival because it's a fun time, it's a party.
01:18 Sheridan says she prepared extra tri-tip and ribs for the festival, even preparing for
01:22 a party at the restaurant on the back patio.
01:25 All canceled due to heavy rainfall and flooding.
01:29 And this unusual storm dumped more than five inches of rain in the mountains, something
01:32 Aaron Maurer with the California Highway Patrol says he's never seen.
01:36 So I have not experienced anything like this before.
01:38 I've only been in the Mojave area for five years but in the last five years I've never
01:44 experienced something with this much rainfall so sudden.
01:48 Maurer says flooding, rock slides and mudslides have contributed to closures across eastern
01:52 Kern but CHP is using additional resources to open those roads as soon as possible.
01:58 Thanks to the sunny weather we're working closely with Caltrans to make sure that the
02:02 roads get opened up as quickly as possible.
02:05 We have additional resources working and Caltrans also has additional resources out just to
02:09 clear the roads and make sure that people are free to travel and get to where they need
02:12 to go as soon as we can get them there.
02:15 Sheridan plans to continue cleanup throughout the day and says her husband will prepare
02:18 the damaged portions of the roof to prevent further damage in the future.
02:23 It is what it is.
02:24 I mean Mother Nature is going to do what she wants to do and there's just not a darn thing
02:27 we can do about it.
02:28 I'm just glad here in town we didn't really have anything horrible happen.
02:32 For more information on what roads are closed you can visit us online at TurnTo23.com.
02:37 In Tehachapi, I'm Dominique Lavignier, 23BC News, connecting you.
02:40 connecting you.
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