I Want to Return Home

By Jane Ross

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Flooding brought on by intense downpours in Southern California has isolated a seaside hotel in Los Angeles, leaving guests temporarily stranded. Some visitors had traveled from the Midwest seeking relief from severe winter weather but found themselves caught in a significant Pacific storm instead.

At the Inn at Playa del Rey, located just four blocks from the Pacific Ocean and overlooking a protected marsh, guests woke to find they could not leave the hotel due to flooding surrounding the property. Crews were busy working to clear large pools of rainwater.

Susan Zolla, the innkeeper, remarked that this was among the worst flooding she had experienced in her 28 years managing the hotel.

"My guests? They don’t know how to get out. They don’t know how to get in," Zolla explained.

Alice White-Zmigrocki, 66, and her husband Joe Zmigrocki, 74, were visiting from Chicago, attempting to escape a foot of snow and sub-zero temperatures back home.

"I want to go home," said White-Zmigrocki, a retired teacher. "This is not California."

Her husband, a certified public accountant, noted that their main inconvenience was being unable to leave the hotel grounds for breakfast, although they were thankful for the coffee and pastries that the hotel provided to those stranded.

"I felt kind of sorry for people that live here and have to put up with this, because it’s really an inconvenience and dangerous to life," he commented.

The ongoing storm is the second atmospheric river system to hit Southern California in recent days, bringing over 10 inches of rain to the Los Angeles area since Sunday and resulting in widespread flooding and mudslides.

Tragically, two fatalities were reported in Northern California due to trees falling in high winds during the same storm event.