The first thing Bilqees (Bell) Ubadi shouts across Pond Road at an approaching reporter is: “No one has come. No one has done anything.”
There aren’t many secrets in this tiny northern Kern County community that consists of about 15 homes, Ubadi’s Pond Mercantile and the Pond Elementary School. So, word gets around when a reporter is asking about flood preparations for the coming El Niño winter after the town was almost universally swamped in 2023…