San Diegans in a Rolando neighborhood are hoping to see real changes after Monday’s storm forced them from their homes for a third time.
“Every time it rains, it’s going to flood,” said Donna Ferguson, who’s lived in the Village Green Apartments for more than 14 years.
Great Flood of 2024
Ferguson and dozens of people in that Rolando neighborhood woke up to torrential downpour Monday and knew it wasn’t going to be good.
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“I had a feeling that morning something was going to happen,” Ferguson said. "I just didn’t know what."
Three days later, the rising water has receded, but it left behind something maybe just as bad.
“Every time it rains, psychologically it’s hard,” Ferguson said.
Mattresses, furniture, clothing and even brand new toys were all ruined.
“This time, it was double-worse than what happened last time,” Ferguson said.
It's not the first-time people living in the Village Green Apartments have had to wade through the rising water. They said that in 2017, it rained so much they were walking through knee-deep water.
“It’s very stressful — especially when there’s hard rains — to know if we’re going to flood again,” said Eleanor Rubalcaba, who’s lived at in the Village Green Apartments for more than 10 years.
The apartment dwellers said they believe that the main problem is a deep tunnel that sits next to their homes. They told NBC 7 they just call it the Flood Control Channel and whenever it rains, they expect it to fill and overflow.
“I feel like this is their trash property," ,” Rubalcaba said. "The city is not keeping up on maintenance."
Wednesday night, property managers and city leaders held a town hall meeting for residents.
“They really have no answers for us," Ferguson said. "They really didn’t."
Although they were told they can could stay at a hotel, that would only be for a few days. They also have the option of sleeping at homeless shelters, which residents said is only a temporary fix.
“They’re not going to replace any of our items, all our items that have been damaged," Rubalcaba said. "All of us have lost everything,”
Residents said they’ve sent complaints and asked for help, but their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
“The trust is not there,” Rubalcaba said. “Actions speak louder than words. Show us that it’s going to be different this time and you’re not just saying you’re going to do this to tide us over.”
“We’re pretty much just stuck here in limbo,” Ferguson said.
