Additional swift-water rescue teams and assistance from the U.S. National Guard will be on tap when the next big storm arrives Thursday, officials said Tuesday, even as many worked to recover from the flash flood that upended so many lives just eight days ago.
The situation was considered serious enough, with the National Weather Service predicting another one to two inches of precipitation starting Thursday, and a third storm looking probable early next week, that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting, putting in place special prohibitions against eviction and rent increases in 11 urban ZIP codes where last week’s flash flood hit hardest.
Termed an “urgency ordinance,” the action approved on a 4-1 vote prohibits “residential evictions without just cause” in areas of eastern and Southeast San Diego, Spring Valley, National City, Lemon Grove and Coronado unless landlords show “that there is an imminent health or safety threat.” That term is defined as a tenant creating an “immediate and serious threat to a person’s health or safety,” and only in circumstances where “all other remedies available to the landlord and other occupants of the property” have been extinguished. Evictions notices served before Jan. 22, 2024, are not included.
The eviction moratorium lasts for 60 days and, again, applies only to eleven ZIP codes: 92113, 91977, 91950, 92114, 92102, 92115, 91945, 92118, 92104, 92105 and 92111.
And landlords are also prohibited, for the next 60 days, from increasing rents in the designated ZIP codes by an amount that is greater than the overall increase in the region’s Consumer Price Index for the previous year. Rent increases already communicated to tenants before the flash flood can still take effect.
Some did not appreciate the decision.
Molly Kirkland, immediate past president of the Southern California Rental Housing Association, called the rent cap unnecessary as a similar provision is already in place due to a state emergency declaration. Overall, she said, the ordinance was not specific enough in many areas.
“There’s a plethora of definitions that really just don’t work for either side, and we think clarity is needed,” Kirkland said.
Supervisors also approved $10 million in emergency spending, and emergency extensions of several contracts, to help with the recovery process.
Board Chair Nora Vargas said she was proud to see the community’s response to the flash flood but wanted to make sure that those efforts were amplified. Pictures of the devastation wrought on neighborhoods with few resources, she said, can never do justice to the flood’s true impacts in communities that have historically had inadequate resources.
“Truly, unless you are there, I don’t think you can see it or smell it or feel it,” Vargas said.
Some of her colleagues, though, noted that many of the ZIP codes listed are inside cities. While county staff said they were confident that the state’s Emergency Services Act allows such actions, some were worried about mission creep.
Supervisor Joel Anderson, the lone no vote, said that while he supports helping those in need, it was not clear why the region’s 18 city governments were not handling some of the proposed actions themselves.
“I’m trying to figure out how we can do this in a way that people have skin in the game, and that they meet us half way, that they don’t just say ‘well, we can order as much food as we want at the restaurant, because we’re not paying.’”
Anderson’s request to break out some of the items on the county’s list of actions went nowhere. Vargas said she didn’t feel she could wait to bring the resolutions forward for a discussion at the next regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 6.
“We really are in a place right now where our communities are suffering,” Vargas said. “I worked really, really closely with legal counsel to ensure that every one of these items … so that we can go ahead and move forward.”
Vargas said she decided to delay her State of the County speech, scheduled for Wednesday, to encourage the public to get out and volunteer in neighborhoods affected by flooding in a countywide “Day of Service.” More information is available at countynewscenter.com.
The chair also said that county government will request assistant from the California National Guard and California Conservation Corps to assist with storm preparations.
Baja California is also hunkering down.
In-person classes are officially suspended Thursday and Friday in all Baja California schools, Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila announced Tuesday after a meeting in Tijuana with Civil Protection officials — the state’s office that coordinates preparedness and emergency response.
Ávila said that depending on the forecast it will be determined Sunday if it is also necessary to suspend classes on Tuesday of next week to reduce mobility throughout the state. Monday is an observed holiday in Mexico. Baja California has 80 shelters available to people in need, Ávila said.
Meanwhile, cities across the San Diego region scrambled to make repairs and prepare as best they can for the next deluge.
Swift-water rescue teams in Del Mar and Carlsbad were gearing up, as was Cal Fire. Capt. Brent Pascua said Tuesday that beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Cal Fire will have two dedicated rescue teams posted in Jamul and San Marcos. The San Diego Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division will deploy teams in flood-prone areas.
“We have also requested a California Office of Emergency Services Swift Water Rescue team, which will arrive tomorrow and stay through Friday,” said Monica Munoz, a media services manager for the department. “This is a team of 12 swift water rescue trained firefighters.”
Everyone seemed to be stocking up on sandbags. A comprehensive list of locations where bags could be obtained and filled across the region is available at https://www.alertsandiego.org/en-us/recovery/sandbags.html.
Outside the Heartland Fire Station on Central Avenue in Lemon Grove, about a dozen residents shoveled sand into bags to safeguard their homes from rising waters ahead of Thursday’s storm.
Lemon Grove resident Rachel Eaves was with her husband filling some sandbags they purchased online to protect their garage. Although they live on top of a hill, last week’s rising water flowed up their short driveway, seeping into their garage.
“I didn’t really know that the storm was going to be super bad this last time, and so we didn’t really do a whole lot of prep,” she said. “Since it did get so crazy, we decided to go ahead and prep this time.”
U.S. Navy veteran Jordan Baude said he had picked up some bags at Home Depot to fill up at the Lemon Grove station. Although he had more than a dozen bags with him, he was only taking five of them home to his house in Spring Valley.
“They’re running low on bags, and there’s a lot of people out here who don’t have maybe kids or a husband or something to help them fill up,” Baude said. “There may be some older folks, and so I figured I would grab a bunch extra and just fill them up and leave them here for the people that needed them. I was trying to make my mama proud.”
Public works crews focused on making sure that storm drains that clogged in the flash flood were unblocked and ready to serve on Thursday.
Chula Vista Public Works crews spent the day removing mud and debris from a storm channel under a pedestrian bridge at the Chula Vista Golf Course on Bonita Road, an area that has faced flooding in the past.
Coronado’s sewer system was severely impacted by last week’s heavy rains. Residents in the Country Club area were asked to stop flushing their toilets and running their showers and sinks for nearly 24 hours. Some repairs to the Parker Pump Station were completed Sunday and a fully functional storm drain pump for the station is expected to go online Wednesday, according to the city.
In Carlsbad, city employees were inspecting the city’s drainage system to be sure it was clear of any debris that could block gutters and pipes, especially in areas that have had drainage issues in the past, said Communication and Engagement Director Kristina Ray.
Certain areas in Tijuana are especially vulnerable to flood due to inadequate drainage and neighborhoods where houses were built in areas susceptible to landslides. Tijuana city workers were seen Tuesday afternoon removing debris and trash from the Cañon de la Pedrera channel in preparation for the upcoming rains.
On up the coast, Oceanside has been preparing for winter storms since summer, said Public Works Division Manager Nathan Mertz.
“The city cleans out over 3,500 storm drain inlets, maintains detention basins, drainage channels and storm drains,” Mertz said. “The city is constantly checking these facilities to ensure they are functioning correctly and are not blocked with debris.”
National City officials declared a local emergency Monday in response to last week’s storm.
City Manager Ben Martinez said the city is assessing damage to businesses, homes and roadways, and opened an emergency operations center to coordinate response and recovery efforts that may be needed later in the week.
Reporters Phil Diehl, Lauren Mapp, Alexandra Mendoza, Tammy Murga and Lyndsay Winkley contributed to this report.
