Rainfall measured at nearly two inches on Tuesday – and likely more in some areas of the community – led to widespread flooding in Escalon this past week, especially in the downtown area. The spring storm also caused some power outages and left drainage basins in local parks looking more like lakes.

The heavy rainfall on Tuesday, April 21 was the most the city has seen in such a short period of time, officials said, and followed rainfall that occurred the day before.

“The city received several inches of rain in a couple of hours. This amount of rain in this period of time inundated the city’s oldest storm drain systems, particularly in downtown and the northeast quadrant of the city, which all flow to the same area,” explained City Manager Jaylen French of the April 21 deluge. “Though all infrastructure in this area was working properly.”

French added that both Public Works crews and the Police Department were out unclogging drains, performing traffic control, closing streets, and delivering sand bags to various businesses and areas of the city.

“Special thanks to the Escalon Consolidated Fire Protection District for their assistance to staff, businesses and the community during this weather event,” said French. “The City has received informal reports from owners about flooded basements, soaked flooring, damaged merchandise and breached ceiling.”

The city does provide sand and bags in the empty lot at the corner of McHenry and Roosevelt, and bags could still be seen outside a number of Main Street businesses several days after the inclement weather.

Multiple businesses along Main Street were impacted by the flooding, as well as on some side streets, including Second Street near the Escalon Library, American Legion Hall and other buildings in that area.

“As I understand it, some portions of the city were without power due to two downed transformers,” French said, with one possibly hit by lightning. “The City’s storm infrastructure was down for a period of time, but the basins at Sanchez and Shadowood did their jobs and held the water until the pumps were active again; and therefore, there was minimal flooding in those parts of town.”

One business that was impacted in the 1800 block of Main Street has gone public with a GoFundMe effort, noting: “The Ivy salon in downtown Escalon is working to recover after a devastating flood left the space under a foot of water, destroying flooring, furniture, and equipment and forcing seven stylists out of work. A GoFundMe aims to cover repairs, replace damaged items, and support staff during the closure as they work to reopen.”

There was a little lingering precipitation later in the week, with measurable rainfall both on Wednesday, April 22 and Saturday, April 25.

Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.