San Jose resident must start over completely after flood

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Some residents in San Jose neighborhoods hit hardest by flooding are returning home Friday to see what's left.

RESOURCES: San Jose flood evacuation info and how to help

It's safe to say that while the flood seemed to last forever, the aftermath has already begun to feel like an eternity for victims.

Residents of the Rock Springs neighborhood went home to get started with the salvaging process.

The neighborhood was lined with muddy streets filled with mud-caked cars drying in sunshine that arrived a few days too late.

Former residents were slipping and sliding through the thick muck, and anyone with a lower-level apartment or home had a mess on their hands.

The inside of an apartment where Carlos Fernandez sublet a room contained a couch and beds that looked like muddy sponges and a floor that looks like a river bottom.

Fernandez has no idea if his landlord had renters insurance or that he lived in a flood plain.

He was leaving that apartment with pretty much all he has left to his name.

Many residents stepped into trash bags to use them as waders while walking around the neighborhood. Every visible building had been yellow-tagged.