San Diego’s North County bore much of the brunt from Monday morning’s storm, NBC 7’s Mari Payton reports,
This weekend's mighty atmospheric river caused significant flooding in much of San Diego, but perhaps hardest hit was North County.
Mudslides were reported, with some roads and freeway lanes underwater, and, in some cases, flooding prevented some residents from leaving their neighborhoods.
The property of one Escondido resident and business owner, Scott Lawn, was literally underwater.
San Diego Storm Coverage
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"This is the worst rain we’ve had since we've owned it," Lawn said. "We’ve owned it for two and a half years."
Mud and debris slid down from a vacant property onto Hill Valley Drive in Escondido. Lawn lives and runs his business next to the vacant property. When he purchased it, he built a berm to keep mud from sliding into his home, but it couldn’t stop the water.
This weekend's storm flooded his backyard and water had to be pumped out. Fans cluttered his office Monday, as he tried to dry out after 3 inches of water came into his office. Meantime, he went outside to survey the muddy mess from the street.
"This is so unbelievably unacceptable," Lawn said. "I was told by my son and one of the people that works with me that they were going to do this with shovels today, and I said, 'They're going to do what?' [laughing] Get a bulldozer. Are you kidding me?"
Crews were working on the mess since 9 a.m., and they weren't alone. There were lots of related issues all over North County, including in the following locations:
- Escondido: 8700 block of Circle R Drive; mudslide
- Escondido/Valley Center: Lake Wohlford and Oakvale roads: rockslide
- Fallbrook: Ranger and East Mission roads; road washed out, 4-foot sinkhole in road
- Vista: Buena Creek Road and Monte Vista Drive; mudslide with power poles down
