WALKER BASIN, Calif. — “This road is our only main access road to our community,” said Walker Basin resident Robert Thomas
Residents say that Thompson Creek is emptying onto Williams Road, making the road into a river.
“First couple of weeks, we were stuck, completely stuck. You couldn't go,” said resident Kate Marzolf.
There are now options to leave, but only on roads that go through private property, and only if their vehicle can make it through rough terrain.
“I've missed about two and a half weeks of work, they put me on emergency absence. I work at home depot in Bakersfield,” resident Christine Corcoran said.
Flooded roads aren’t the only challenge this community is facing.
“Three weeks now we haven't had phone service here,” Thomas told me.
“We got a lot of older people and they have heart problems, lungs, all kinds of problems, and not being able to have an ambulance come in here for your service. Even the fire department is going to have a heck of a time gettin’ in here. it's just a scary thing." Kate Marzolf said.
Williams road is a dirt road that residents have gotten used to taking care of themselves. However, residents told me Williams road is a county road up until basin street. This entire portion is currently unusable because of the flooding.
“We have reached out to the county and have gotten no reply and we reached out to AT&T. We don't have any reply or any action from either one of them to help us," Thomas said.
“What we need is help putting something up the road to divert the road back to where it is supposed to flow,” resident Linda Kuebler said.
Community members have told me they’ve been pushing for the county to update the road for years now.
“We are stranded, we would like some help, we can't get the help, our phones aren’t working, the road is out,” said Thomas.
