Affected by the unexpected floods, many communities in San Diego are now left to repair their neighborhoods and homes amid confusion and limited support from the city.  

   Throughout the years, it’s been noted that the city’s storm drain system is in need of maintenance all throughout San Diego. According to KPBS, these complaints date back to 2019. This is a problem that the city has been needing to deal with for a long duration, and they haven’t taken any action. As a result, when the flooding occurred, property was damaged, leaving residents to deal with the aftermath (kpbs.org). 

   Due to the lack of maintenance, major flooding has occurred in several neighborhoods and many citizens were left displeased with the way that their city has responded. Instead of sending out service workers and rescue teams, they’ve left the communities to rely on each other for help with the aftermath of the destruction which has left citizens to feel like they were abandoned, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. The article in the San Diego Union Tribune explained that due to this being mostly the city’s fault, many residents and business owners expected the city to help out with the costs of repairs of homes, cars, and personal belongings, but to no avail (sandiegouniontribune.com). 

   According to Fox News, this event has brought communities together. Volunteers have passed out food, supplies, and even offered shelter to some. The Red Cross opened a center at Lincoln High School where people who have been displaced can stay. In the aftermath of the flooding, a hotel located on Midway Drive, was recently opened as a new short-term shelter for those affected by the storm (fox5sandiego.com).

   The city is scrambling to fix the mess they’ve been putting off, and has received immense backlash from the citizens for not doing the bare minimum. Many are on the brink of being homeless, and have lost their cars and pets, along with  the devastating loss of many personal belongings, said a reporter from the New York Times (nytimes.com). 

   According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the city has calculated six or seven million dollars in damages and about four-hundred homes were damaged (sandiegouniontribune.com).

   Senior Larissa Gonzalez has lived in one of the neighborhoods that was severely affected by the floods, and has dedicated time to volunteering in helping the community. “The city didn’t care until after it happened. It took them all this time to clean up years worth of trash in one week when they could’ve just cleaned the sewers annually,” said Gonzalez.

   “When I went to help, days after it happened, people were still mopping floors to get the water out. Even homeless people were helping and other people were giving out donations, like food and clothes,” Gonzalez added.

  It’s up to the city to have aid relief for disasters like these, no matter how rare they may be. According to a reporter from the San Diego Union Tribune, the city has put out surveys for those affected to fill out so that they can gather information to request the federal government for federal aid and secure a federal disaster declaration (sandiegouniontribune.com).