Rescuers chest-deep in water steered boats full of people, some with babies and pets, on Tuesday from a San Jose neighborhood inundated by water from an overflowing creek.
At least 225 residents were taken to dry land and rinsed with soap and water to prevent them from being sickened by floodwaters that had traveled through engine fuel, garbage, debris and over sewer lines, San Jose Fire Capt. Mitch Matlow said.
Residents went door-to-door searching for people who needed to leave the neighborhood and only residents who could prove they had been cleaned of the floodwaters were allowed to board buses to shelters.