AROUND 9 A.M. on Nov. 8, 2022, Quentin Fears noticed a small amount of water in the drainage tunnel he called home. This was unusual, so he emerged, only to find that the larger flood-control channel just outside his tunnel was filled with a violent, fast-rising torrent of water. One of his friends — perched on a bed that was now a raft — was being swept away.
For over a decade, Fears, a soft-spoken 51-year-old, has lived in and around the flood control channel that runs under Interstate 10 in the Southern California suburb of Ontario. After storms, a little water often runs down the center of the concrete channel. But Fears had never seen a flood like this one. “It was raging,” he said.
Ultimately, a record breaking 1.8 inches of rain fell on Ontario, exceeding the normal rainfall amount for the entire month in just two days.
“As I stood there, it rose,
