It's been two years since the skies over San Diego opened up, flooded people’s homes, and washed away livelihoods, and there's still a lot of anger over what the city did...or didn't do.
In his "Cliff Notes" commentary, KOGO's Cliff Albert said "While these families go through what they’re going through, many are angry and say what happened should not have happened if the city had done a better job of keeping flood channels and storm drains in their neighborhoods properly maintained."
There's still a lot of finger pointing going on since the flooding damaged and destroyed homes in San Diego neighborhoods in the Chollas Creek watershed. Many victims are still caught in a legal battle with the city they blame for the disaster. The state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, estimated about $31 million in damage to public infrastructure from the storm. Others said that number was much higher.
A performance audit of the city of San Diego's emergency response to the historic flooding found the city came up short, and was not adequately prepared for the amount of water that fell across the city.
The report found found several things wrong with how the city responded to this emergency. “The City effectively managed the immediate emergency response to the January 22, 2024 storm using existing plans, but when recovery demands extended beyond the City’s previous responsibilities, there were no clear plans in place to meet residents’ needs.”
There was also a second finding that pointed out a better job needed to be done when it came to communication.“The City does not have a plan to ensure it quickly and effectively communicates response and recovery information with all members of the public after a disaster,” the finding stated.
Will things change? Will we be ready for the next flood to end all floods? Last year city management said they would implement nearly two dozen recommendations made, no later than this coming July.
Time will tell.
(photo: kgtv)