San Jose floodwater causing major damage to homes
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The water in Coyote Creek began to recede on Wednesday, revealing the damage the mud and water left behind.
On Wednesday, the Powell family is on cleanup duty after Coyote Creek swallowed their backyard and basement whole.
"We went to get sandbags and by the time we came back, the water was already here. So in a matter of 45 minutes, our basement was flooded," Norwita Powell said.
RESOURCES: San Jose flood evacuation centers and help info
Pumps pulled water out of their daughter's bedroom and a backyard, beautifully landscaped last summer, now drowned in dirty water.
"Now it's all gone and we've got to pretty much start all over again," Powell said.
Powell bought the house on South 17th Street in San Jose a few years after the flood in 1997, so she was expecting some water damage - but not this much.
"We weren't given, from my perspective, a lot of notice as to what was going to happen and the impact it was going to have on us. We definitely would have done some things differently if we'd known the extent of the water that was being released," Powell said.
RELATED: San Jose residents question emergency response to floods, evacuations
"I'm watching it come up and I have no idea when is this supposed to stop," Powell's neighbor, Julie Smalls, said. Her backyard is also caked in mud.
She echoes the same sentiment - that more details about water levels from the city of San Jose or Santa Clara Valley Water District would have been helpful.
"I don't feel like there was adequate information," Smalls said.
PHOTOS: Residents rescued from at least 30 flooded homes in San Jose
Click here for sandbag pick up locations in San Jose.
