San Diego Storm Update 4PM | Mountain View damage, NB I-15 shutdown, latest weather alerts

Summary

Severe flash flooding hit the Mountain View neighborhood in San Diego, with water levels reaching 4 feet high and flooding homes. One man's mother died that morning and he floated her body out on an air mattress. Firefighters rescued people in kayaks as cars floated down the street. Neighbors are angry that calls to the city to clear debris from a flood channel were ignored. The freeway also flooded, bringing traffic to a standstill for hours. More rain is expected overnight, so flood warnings remain in place across the county.

Takeaways

• 😢 A street in the Mountain Dew neighborhood was badly flooded, with water gushing into homes
• 🚒 Firefighters and police helped rescue people from the raging floodwaters
• 🚗 The floodwaters were strong enough to carry cars down the street
• 💀 An 84-year old woman died the morning of the flood at her son's home
• 🛶 The son and neighbors used an air mattress to float the woman's body across the flooded street
• 😠 Neighbors are angry that their calls to the city to clean out the flood channel were apparently ignored
• 🔧 Neighbors helped each other clean up even as they dealt with damage to their own homes
• 🚘 Major freeways were shut down for hours due to flooding
• 😟 Over 250 vehicle crashes were reported across San Diego County during the storm
• ☔ More rain is expected overnight, prolonging flooding concerns

Q & A

What area of San Diego was hit hardest by the flash flooding?

The Mountain View neighborhood near 42nd Street and Ocean View Boulevard saw the worst of the flooding, with water flooding homes up to 4 feet high.

How did some residents escape from the flash flooding?

Some residents used kayaks and air mattresses to float out of their flooded homes. One woman said her family escaped through small windows onto the roof.

What damage was caused by the flash flooding?

Homes were flooded with mud and water. Cars floated down the street or were carried away. Retaining walls collapsed, garages were destroyed, and debris was strewn everywhere.

How did one resident get his deceased mother's body out of the flooded home?

Antonio Lopez used an air mattress to float his 84-year old mother's body across the flooded street to a waiting mortuary van.

What caused the flash flooding in the neighborhood?

There is a flood channel behind the homes that became overwhelmed with water and debris. The water had nowhere else to go and kept rising.

How are residents responding to the devastating flash flooding?

Neighbors are helping each other shovel mud and debris, even as they deal with damage to their own homes. They want to prevent more flooding.

How were major roadways in San Diego affected?

Major freeways were flooded, causing miles of backed up traffic. Some drivers were stranded for hours before crews could clear the roads.

What should drivers do when major flash flooding occurs?

Drivers should avoid flooded roads and freeways. Drive slowly and carefully. Have alternate routes planned and emergency supplies in your vehicle in case you get stranded.

Is more rain expected that could cause additional flooding?

Yes, up to an inch more rain is expected in some areas through the evening, which could lead to more flooding given saturated ground.

What warnings and watches are still in effect due to the flash flooding?

A flood watch remains for all of San Diego County until 9pm. A flood warning is also in effect for the San Diego River until 12:30am as it remains at moderate flood stage.

Outlines

00:00

😱 Massive Flash Flooding Devastates San Diego Neighborhood

Paragraph 1 describes major flash flooding that hit the Mountain View neighborhood in San Diego earlier that afternoon. Several homes and cars were damaged or carried away by the raging floodwaters. News reporters give live updates on the scene, describing residents shoveling thick mud from driveways and homes. Firefighters checked for injuries and warned another storm may be approaching.

05:01

😢 Emotional Stories & Calls for Answers Amidst the Wreckage

Paragraph 2 features further live updates from the scene of the flash flooding. The news team tries to verify reports that residents had warned the city about issues with the storm drain and flood channel area prior to the incident. One resident gives a harrowing account of having to float his deceased mother's body across the floodwaters. Other residents describe stunned reactions and demands for the city to provide support and answers.

10:04

🌧️ Rain Continues with Flood Watches in Effect Countywide

Paragraph 3 gives an update that rain is still falling across San Diego County, with a flood watch in effect until 9 PM. The ground is highly saturated after days of rainfall. Additional expected rainfall totals are provided for various parts of the county, many of which remain at risk of flooding into the late night hours.

Keywords

💡flooding

Flooding is a key theme in the video. It refers to the overflow of water in an area that is usually dry land. Flash flooding suddenly inundated neighborhoods like Mountain View with rainwater that came down from the mountains. Flooding caused extensive damage as it floated cars, filled homes with mud, and even carried away cars.

💡storm drain

The storm drain is a channel or infrastructure system designed to collect and transport rainwater away from areas like the Mountain View neighborhood. Neighbors complained the storm drain was not properly maintained, with trash and debris causing flooding when heavy rain overwhelmed it.

💡evacuate

Many residents like Mary Land had to evacuate or escape from their flooded homes in great haste. Some used kayaks and rafts to evacuate as the water rose.

💡first responders

First responders like firefighters and police rescued people from the raging floodwaters and got them to safety at great personal risk.

💡hazmat

A hazmat or hazardous materials incident occurred when a big rig truck overturned on the freeway, spilling its dangerous cargo and forcing the freeway closure.

💡infrastructure

Infrastructure like roads, highways, storm drains are not designed to handle the rare heavy rains in San Diego. This strains the infrastructure leading to flooding, damage, and road closures.

💡Caltrans

Caltrans workers tried to unclog flooded freeways, despite having to work in deep, muddy conditions. They worked for hours to reopen the roads.

💡alternate routes

With flooded roads and freeways closed, drivers had to plan alternate routes to get to their destinations. But many were still stranded for hours.

💡preparedness

The flooding showed the need for emergency preparedness, like having supplies and chargers in your car in case you get stranded.

💡recovery

Neighbors began the difficult process of recovering from the flooding, shoveling thick mud from driveways and power-washing the insides of damaged homes.

Highlights

Street flooded with up to 4 feet of water, damaging homes and cars

Neighbors used air mattress to float deceased mother's body across flooded street

Woman escaped through roof, rescued by neighbors in kayaks

Neighbors want answers from city about repeated flooding and unmaintained storm channel

Insurance will not cover damage for at least one homeowner

Drivers stranded for hours on flooded freeways

Over 250 vehicle crashes in the county between midnight and 3pm

Big rig overturned on 15 Freeway, causing hazmat situation and shutdown

More rain expected on top of already saturated ground, flood risk continues

Over 3 inches of rain fell downtown over 3 days

Flood watch remains in effect

San Diego River at moderate flood stage

Up to 1 inch more rain expected in areas like Alpine

Drivers should slow down, be prepared with supplies if stuck

Flood waters still rising, flood risk continues overnight

Transcripts

Diego was hit by major flash flooding and this afternoon,

some homeowners and drivers are left with a devastating muddy aftermath.

I'm Heather Myers, I'm Carlo

Cetto.

A street in the Mountain Dew neighborhood saw the worst of it

under feet of water that flooded homes and even carried away cars.

Yeah, it was just surreal. This is at 42nd in ocean view.

We've been covering the story live all afternoon

right now. CBS A's Kelly Hassall

and Abby Alford are black, I should say are in the neighborhood and we begin with Abby

Heather and Carlo. This is what many of the neighbors are dealing with right now.

They're cleaning out inside of their homes and then now

they're having to shovel the mud out of their driveway.

This damage is devastating to many of the neighbors

and with the fire department stopping to check on

them making sure that no one was injured.

They fear

that the storm could come back again.

It's, it's raining up in the mountains

and we're expecting all that water to come down at its lowest point.

We don't know if it's gonna come down here and I want you guys to panic.

But I want you to realize that the water, the water could be coming back.

Ok. Let let all your neighbors know

firefighters could be back rescuing people.

We were here as this dramatic scene unfolded on 42nd street off ocean view boulevard

dogs were carried over the raging waters on rescuers shoulders.

Firefighters and police pulling people from the water and getting them to safety.

The current was so strong that it floated cars down the street mud,

gushing into homes as high as 4 ft.

There's a channel behind these homes that flooded and caused the.

This has been an emotional day for so many families as you can

imagine,

but especially for Antonio Lopez before the flood raged through his home.

His 84 year old mother was ill

and she died this morning from suspected natural causes.

Now he did not want to evacuate and leave his mother behind.

So he and his neighbors use an air mattress to float

a body across the flood street where they called the morgue.

So,

so I tried to do the best that I can and thanks to my neighbor.

So they healed me to take my body,

take the body of my mom. So, so we are ok now. So my mom, she's, she's resting in peace.

Our heart is with the Lopez family. Family say that they are just overwhelmed.

They're out shoveling mud from their driveways and

power washing the inside of their home.

But as devastating as this is,

what's been incredible is that you've seen

neighbors coming out helping each other,

even though they're dealing with their own

mess to try to clean up. They're pushing cars out of the way.

They're cleaning the drains and the debris.

They do not want the street to flood again.

My colleague, CBS State, Kelly has

it all has been dredging through the damage and she spoke to

neighbors who have incredible stories on how they escaped the floods.

Kelly,

that's right.

You know, I've never seen water as high in a neighborhood as I saw it here today.

And the clean up as you mentioned continues at this hour and

take a look behind me at this muddy street of driveways,

sidewalks, people's homes are just a mess.

I talked to several neighbors here and one woman

described what it was like escaping from her home.

We had to escape from

the roof.

Ok? We had to get our three cats, our dog myself, my husband,

everything was flooded those little windows. You see,

we came out through those little windows.

Our neighbors came with kayaks and then my cousin showed up two more kayaks,

emotions like I, I don't wanna cry, I wanna stay calm.

I don't wanna panic. My son.

You know, I have to stay calm. The brick wall got knocked down

our garage. That two story right there. You can see the garage is knocked down

my black car. My car is moved. Everything. It's horrible

because you have, this is your home that you're supposed to be safe here.

And it just, it, it gets us so

angry because we did make calls. All the neighbors we all called in the city.

This is the second time

that we have a flood, but this has never been like this.

And she and other neighbors say the problem

here is this flood channel behind their homes.

On 42nd street, there's trees growing there, there's trash, there's debris.

The water came in so fast and so furious,

it had nowhere else to go and just kept rising.

You heard that woman mary land

of

the

talk about escaping in a kayak.

You heard her talk about the retaining wall in their backyard that just

was pushed over from the power of the floodwaters that this was unlike

anything she's ever experienced.

All of the neighbors I talked to said the same thing. They're stunned.

They're angry. They want answers from the city homes.

Up and down the street are a mess.

Backyards are trashed and the people who live here say they

have no idea how they're going to pay for this damage.

So back out here live,

I do know one neighbor told me she has already been told

that insurance is not going to cover the damage to her home.

She told me she looked at her

this morning and saw her car floating down the road.

Her other car ended up five homes away.

You're going to hear from her coming up in 30 minutes. Heather and Carlo Kelly.

You just look at that damage. It's just shocking.

What is the city saying about all of this?

I realize this only happened a few hours ago.

But have we been able to verify that calls were made

to the city about that storm drain the channel area?

Yeah.

And that's something we're still working on to verify exactly when

those calls were made and who those calls were made to.

Now,

I did get an answer from the city or did get an email from the city about 30 minutes ago.

A spokesperson told me that they're working on coming up with

something to reply with or getting me some information about this.

But they say, you know,

they're so busy right now responding to the storm that they just don't have

the resources right now to get back to me exactly about this neighborhood.

And

even if they have answers, words are going to be a little too,

too late for the people who live there. They needed action a while ago.

It looks like to clean out that storm channel.

We'll have to see we're going to follow this up and see what comes of it.

Kelly has it all reporting live for us. Thanks, Kelly.

Just an awful scene there for those people. Yeah.

And a lot of them were home at the time. Those who weren't, are watching this on TV.

It all unfold as their homes are being wiped out

by water and mud and they understood where they live.

They're in a low lying area. You go to a topographical map.

It's a very low area and there is a storm channel but they know that

at least one of them said they had made calls about it to make sure it's cleared out.

That's something that does need to be followed up on

other parts of our area. Traffic became an absolute nightmare still is in many ways.

Freeways are flooded, shutting down lanes in parts of the county

that drivers were stopped on the northbound side of

the 15 and the five at 32nd street,

that's about a mile west of that flooded neighborhood.

We just showed you CBS eight's Richard Allen is

live with what that situation is like right now,

Richard

and Heather and Carlo. We are along the 15 right now.

We're near Imperial and also Market Street.

As you can see, traffic is flowing once again, actually, just about 15 minutes ago,

this northbound lane of I 15 opened up once again,

which is good news for drivers here.

And the good news is that

even with that detour, traffic is actually moving. But take a look at this video.

Take a look here at what it looked like along

the 15 near ocean view just a few hours ago.

An absolute mess you can see the I 15

freeway here was clearly no match for Mother Nature as

that deluge of rain we got in a relatively

short amount of time flooded this section of the freeway

that rain.

The water had nowhere to go but covering the roadway

backing up cars for miles and clearly frustrating drivers,

some of whom actually got out of their car

as they continue to wait for hours.

You can also see the intrepid Caltrans workers working waist deep

in this muddy mess trying their best to unclog the freeway.

It's a task that took them hours to achieve,

but they finally did succeed and you really have to hand

it to those workers doing their best in these extremely wet,

challenging conditions.

But of course,

you can also understand the frustration of these drivers just trying

to get to and from work to and from school.

Now, back out here live,

you can see once again that the I 15 near Market Street, once again,

traffic is flowing freely opening up.

This major flooding though,

brought miles of cars to a standstill and while for the moment the rain has let up,

this is a good reminder to everyone that if you find

yourself out here to take it easy on these roadways,

Heather and Carlo.

Thanks Richard Jim Betancourt

with CHP here to help us out understand what's going on out there today today.

Thanks for your time. Thanks for having me.

It's been really a busy day out there on the roadways in San Diego County today.

Yeah, we do appreciate you giving us just a couple of minutes to get us up to speed.

We just saw Richard Allen's live shot.

He was at the 15 northbound near 32nd, which was closed for hours.

You said

there's now another problem just up the freeway just

north of that area also on the 15.

That's correct.

We just, you know, a few minutes after that one opened up,

we had a big rig overturn and land on its side northbound 15 at the eight,

which in turn has shut down all lanes on the

northbound side of the 15 just before the eight because

now it looks like we have a hazmat incident in

that area and we're diverting people off at the eight,

which is

another big problem out in the area. Good news up in the North county.

However, the westbound 78 open, however,

the eastbound side of the 78 is still closed at El Camino.

What is the CHPs main role when we have this kind of shutdown,

by the way where cars just aren't going through?

What do you even do?

Our role in?

This is just to make sure how can we get some

of those cars out of there so we can have Caltrans do

whatever maintenance that they need to do on the roadway,

that means maybe shutting down extra ramps,

turning cars around having them go wrong way until we can get them righted

in a different position out there on

the freeways and making sure that everybody's safe

or that we have a good place where we can reroute traffic through that area.

Well, it can be done to try to prevent this type of flooding in the future.

I mean, I know it's very rare that we get

flash flooding in San Diego County.

But do we need to be doing a better job of maintaining the storm?

You know, that's really a question that Caltrans can probably answer at this time.

Uh They are in charge of maintaining those roadways.

Look, we all know in San Diego County, it just doesn't rain a lot.

So when we get this much rain, it puts a strain on our infrastructure like anything.

We had a lot of major incidents out there on the

roadways when we do have incidents like this in the future,

we asked that people just drive safe between midnight last night

and about 3 p.m. Today, we had over 250 crashes in San Diego County and on a good day,

we usually respond to about 75.

So people weren't really taking heed to the conditions today is,

is ultimately what was happening out there and that's just it, right.

People are driving too fast for the conditions out there on the roadway.

We know when there's conditions like this 65

MPH on the freeway is just not a safe speed.

You really need to slow down, stay off the freeways if you can

and make sure that you have alternate plans.

If anything,

I was taught a lesson today and that's keep supplies in your car

because you never know when you're going to be backed up for hours.

Like we saw a lot of these drivers dealing with

today.

That's it.

Make sure you have gas in your car, make sure you have supplies,

your phone is charged up and that

if you need to take an alternate route to go to from point A to point B, you have a plan.

Always no

different routes to take when you need to get home. That'll help you a lot that Jim

Beco CHP. Thank you so much for your time today.

I'm sure it's been a long and busy one for you. It has,

I appreciate it. Thank you.

All right, coming up next, the rain's not over just quite yet. Yeah, Chief Mayor,

just Carlene Chaz

joining us now with the latest on the showers that believe it or not.

This is not what some of these folks want to hear. Carlene. We're not done.

We are not done. That area of low pressure is still lingering over us.

What we are done with is the heaviest of that moisture moving

through when we take a look at the last three days,

if you remember this actually started on Saturday.

And that's because we've been dealing with a broad atmospheric river event.

So we, we're looking at those high rainfall chances going into the weekend,

the ground was already saturated.

Once we started to get the heavier bands

moving through and that was earlier this morning,

started to have those chances going up once we

got past midnight all the way through the uh,

mid morning hours and even early afternoon,

here are your rainfall totals over the last three days?

You are talking about more than three inches.

That was for San Diego, for downtown at the airport.

You're looking, yeah, most of the county was more than two inches.

Also looking at some pretty significant rainfall. Even for the desert.

They were dealing with some, uh, flood concerns as well.

We have the flood watch that's still in effect for most of the county as we talk

about the fact that we're not done here are

some additional rainfall totals we could be looking at

on top of already being saturated.

You're talking about 1/10 of an inch of rainfall for downtown could see close to a

half an inch for El Cajon as well as close to an inch for alpine.

You're looking at close to about a quarter of an inch

of rainfall that would be for Escondido as well as for power

and these are already areas as you already know that are saturated.

We have a flood watch that keeps going all the way until nine pm tonight.

That is for the entire county of San Diego.

We also have a flood warning because we have

uh the flood waters that have been rising.

So basically,

the San Diego river has been rising and it's at

that moderate flood stage as we go into tonight.

So we are still dealing with some flooding in the area and

that's gonna keep going all the way until 1230 in the morning.