The latest deluge of rain has made getting around Los Angeles doubly difficult for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. But in this digital age, food delivery robots are now joining the rest of us in the struggle to maneuver L.A.’s rain-soaked streets.
On Monday, heavy rainfall pummeled Southern California, flooding streets and curbs with several inches of water.
On Melrose Place in West Hollywood, Mona Seresht spotted a pink and orange Coco Robotics bot struggling through a flooded street on its delivery route.
A familiar sight in Los Angeles, the cooler-sized AI-controlled sidewalk bots deliver everyday essentials and groceries to customers. But this bot was battling more than just uneven sidewalks and other barriers.
Seresht took a video of the bot, with the text, “No one knows how to act when it rains in LA [shaking my head],” and posted it on Instagram. The post has garnered 161,000 likes and more than 2,600 comments, many of which expressed sympathy for the bot.
Many Instagram followers cheered the bot on, with one posting “Go coco, go,” and others calling for someone to help the struggling robot.
The Times reached out to Coco Robotics for comment but did not receive a response before publication. The Coco Robotics website, however, describes the delivery bot as being “weather proof” and “engineered for efficient city travel.” That description was put to the test during this latest downpour.
As the rain came down Monday, Seresht, who is a cosmetic dermatology physician assistant on Melrose Place, told The Times she had a brief gap in her schedule due to patient delays caused by the weather.
“My team and I walked down the stairs to check out the rain and noticed the Coco Robot zip by quickly and by the time we got by the door and looked outside, it was struggling, trying to get up the curb,” she said.
Seresht said when she and her co-workers order food it is delivered by a robot and the two delivery bots that dominate Melrose Place are Coco and Serve Robotics.
“Unfortunately, like many places in Los Angeles, the roads aren’t as equipped to handle extreme rainfall,” she said. “During heavy rain, it’s not uncommon to notice some temporary water pooling near the curbs, especially in spots where the pavement is uneven.”
Luckily, Seresht said the Coco bot she recorded struggling in the rain was ultimately able to back up and make its way up the sidewalk to, hopefully, get to its destination.
The downpour created more problems in nearby neighborhoods.
Almost two miles east, a block of businesses in the Fairfax District, along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, reported rainwater rising from the flooded sidewalk and seeping into their storefronts.
One store manager, Keagan Johnston of Brooklyn Projects, told KTLA the Los Angeles Department of Sanitation had predeployed a water pumping truck to the flood-prone area but it wasn’t helpful.
The Times reached out to LASAN for comment but the department did not immediately respond. LASAN told KTLA a powerful, sudden and fast-moving storm had overwhelmed the stormwater system.
About six miles west, in the Sawtelle neighborhood, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to an incident near the 12300 block of West Olympic Boulevard where seven cars were stalled at a flooded intersection. The fire crew assisted one person from a vehicle but reported no injuries.
By early Tuesday, a large swath of Southern California had received more than an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Downtown L.A. has recorded 1.97 inches; Long Beach, 1.74 inches; Canoga Park, 2.16 inches; Alhambra, 2.24 inches; and Ojai, 1.52 inches.
By the end of the week, forecasters predict totals as high as 4 inches in coastal and valley areas and up to 8 inches in the mountains and foothills.
Times staff writers Grace Toohey and Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.
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