TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY — Ahead of more rain, some people are taking the time now to start preparing, including one horse ranch in the Tijuana River Valley that had to evacuate all their horses on Monday.
“We just all at the end of the day we want safety for us and for our family which is our animals,” said Melissa Shanholtz, a Driftwood Ranch horse trainer.
Shanholtz said she went to the ranch in the morning on Monday while it was still raining but not flooding. By the afternoon, Shanholtz said the rain quickly turned the arenas and stalls into lakes with fast rushing water.
“By the time I had gotten here it was up to my ankles in water. And by the time I got to the end of our arena it was already covering the top of my boot,” Shanholtz said.
San Diego County will qualify for flood relief funds
“The first thing, I saddled up my horse and then I was like ‘I’m going to start helping people out, because it’s a lot of horses,’” said Gerado Garcia, boards horses at Driftwood Ranch.
Garcia and his girlfriend board three horses at Driftwood. Garcia said although they safely evacuated all 101 horses on the ranch, some setbacks slowed them down like stalls that had locks on them.