Residents of this military town have long heard tales of bravery and tragedy, drifting over from the Marine base that shares this patch of the Mojave Desert.

On Wednesday they thought of how tragedy and bravery met head-on where a neighborhood side street dips into a desert wash, far from any battlefield.

Laura Lee Ridgeway, 38, her sister Leslie Jean Juarez, 36, and family friend Jason La Belle, 28, drowned Tuesday when floodwaters dragged Ridgeway's 1991 Dodge van into a rain-swollen wash only yards from her mother's house.

La Belle and Juarez were killed after they helped rescue Jaurez' 14-year-old daughter, Amanda, then went back in an unsuccessful attempt to free the trapped Ridgeway from the stalled vehicle.

Amanda Juarez spoke Wednesday night about her ordeal. Screams broke out as the car slipped into the water and began to fill, she said by phone.

"I used to love the rain," Amanda said. "Now, I'm afraid of it. I hate the rain."

Amanda called her mother a hero for trying to save her aunt's life.

"I'm trying to stay strong for my family," she said.

Grieving relatives Wednesday spoke of the actions of La Belle, an ex-Marine who was like a part of the Ridgeway family, and of a sister and another family friend.

"In my book they're all heroes," said Matthew Ridgeway, 39, brother of the two women and one of six Ridgeway siblings.

There were questions as to how the fatal event could have happened.

Relatives asked why the city hadn't built bridges over any of the dry washes and also questioned the amount of time it took the San Bernardino County coroner's office to cut Laura Ridgeway's body from her car.

"They need to put a dang bridge right there," said sister Lisa Ridgeway, 41, pointing to the wash. "So nobody else dies."

Randy Emon, a supervising deputy coroner who handled Tuesday's case, said by phone Wednesday that it did not take an unusually long time for his office to remove the victims' bodies, given the distances involved.

Bobby Matz, the public works director for the city of Twentynine Palms, said by telephone that the storm channel frequently floods across the road near the Ridgeway home during heavy rains.

But he said there have been no other problems with cars stalling or being swept away by storm waters crossing that road. The city has never discussed putting a bridge over the wash there, he said.

"It's the price we pay for living here in the desert," Matz said.

More storms Wednesday evening caused flooding and closures of various Morongo Basin roads, according to the California Highway Patrol. Flooding temporarily trapped motorists in their cars at the intersection of Highway 247 and Reche Road in Landers.

Recalling tragedy

Under clear blue skies early Wednesday afternoon the Ridgeway family stood outside their mother Angela Ridgeway's modest single-story house on Split Rock Avenue and recalled the events that unfolded too close to home, and the people who were lost.

More than 1.2 inches of rain fell in the Twentynine Palms area Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, which on Wednesday renewed its flash-flood warnings for the town and neighboring Joshua Tree.

The thunderstorms are part of the Southwest monsoons, a weather pattern that typically hits the desert communities in late July and August, meteorologist Barry Pierce said by telephone.

It's a weather system that proved deadly.

Laura Ridgeway was taking her sister Leslie to look for a place to live near her home in nearby Joshua Tree when her van stalled in the wash just before the rain got heavy Tuesday, family members said. She tried frantically to start the van as water in the wash rose to about 4 feet.

Family friend Terrence Cruz, 17, watching the trouble from just up the street, didn't hesitate. He plunged into the water.

Cruz said he pulled Leslie Juarez' daughter out a window as La Belle struggled at the back of the car, trying to hold the bumper up and keep the car from sinking.

Cruz then approached the driver's side, trying to free Laura Ridgeway. But the flood waters kept rising and the strong current tipped and rolled the car over, carrying La Belle away as he hung onto the bumper, Cruz said.

The car floated through the rock-strewn wash for about a half-mile, finally hitting a bridge abutment near City Hall.

Ridgeway's body was recovered from the car and the other two bodies were found four miles downstream.

The tragedy left eight children -- ages 9 to 20 -- orphaned. Laura Lee Ridgeway and Leslie Jean Juarez had four children each.

Community mourns

Throughout Twentynine Palms on Wednesday the breadth of the damage done by the raging floodwaters was still sinking in. Piles of desert dirt and rocks were washed up on side streets and along Highway 62, the main road through town.

Many said they were praying for the Ridgeways and leaning on their own faith to pull them through.

Samantha Atkinson, 35, had just returned home from her job managing a gift shop when she heard the news.

"My first reaction was to pray for the families, because I couldn't imagine losing my children," the mother of three teen-agers said over a meal at the Carousel Cafe.

"It's a shock, but I know that . . ." her voice trailed off. She struggled for words of comfort that wouldn't come.

Mike Graham, a Marine chief warrant officer stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, said La Belle died doing what he was trained to do -- helping others.

"It's always sad for us, especially for one of our brothers, a fellow Marine," said Graham, dog tags peeking out from under his civilian sports shirt as he gassed up at the local convenience store.

It's ironic, Graham said, that an ex-Marine should die in a civilian accident while fellow troops returned the same day from war unscathed.

"But tragedy is tragedy no matter where you are," he said. "Life is so valuable. It's so fragile."

A memorial fund has been established for the Ridgeway family at Washington Mutual Bank, 57297 Twentynine Palms Highway, Yucca Valley, CA 92284, account #4894866371. Checks are payable to the Ridgeway Family Trust.

Services for Laura Lee Ridgeway and Leslie Jean Juarez will be held on Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 72070 Samarkand Drive in Twentynine Palms.

Reach Gregor McGavin at (760) 322-4228 or gmcgavin@pe.com