Strathmore Ag business suffers millions of dollars worth of flood damage

STRATHMORE, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley business is still cleaning up a massive mess caused by the recent storms.

"Some of the tractors were completely covered. We have a 5-foot blocked wall down there that was completely covered and that is 6 feet," explained Osbaldo Sanchez, owner of Strathmore Ag Supply,

Just before sunrise on January 10th, Sanchez was alerted his business was in trouble.

He is a grower himself and supplies equipment for growers across the Valley.

The heavy storms overflowed a reservoir near his property, and the water made its way to his family's 12 acres of land.

"Some of the equipment, I tried turning it on, and it was already waterlogged. I managed to get the biggest tractor out, I got my dog and I got the computer," said Sanchez.

Despite his efforts to rescue even more, it was too late.

Files filled with paperwork, vehicles, inventory in six storage containers, and much more was submerged in water for about four days.

Supplies like the blades in these boxes are no longer of use.

He says, for perspective, each box is a $1 thousand loss.

"I had some insurance adjustors come out and they said do not be surprised if you get to the $5 or $6 million loss," Sanchez said.

Sanchez says the storm damage impacts hundreds of employees, including farm laborers and those who work for the ag supply operation.

It's also hurting the customers who rely on him.

For the last two weeks, it's been all hands on deck to pick up what's left.

He has to account for everything and says navigating through insurance and searching for disaster relief has been challenging.

He doesn't understand why the large pumps near his property were not pushing water from the reservoir to the canal.

"The big pumps were not on, and I am not sure if they were not functioning," Sanchez said. "Whenever water gets to a certain level, they pump the water into the canal. They have done that for almost 40 years that we've had it."

While the search for answers continues, Sanchez says all he can do is hold on to hope and do the best he can to move forward.

The Tulare County Resource Management Agency controls the reservoir.

Officials say they followed their standard protocol that was set 20 years to pump across the bridge to the storm drain system and could not pump into the canal until the Friant Water Authority approved it.

We also tried contacting the water authority but were not able to reach anyone there.

For news updates, follow Elisa Navarro on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.