SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — Days after the storm, neighbors are still cleaning up and assessing damage in the Southcrest area. But, many say they don't have flood insurance.
Less than 2% of California homeowners have flood insurance, according to the California Department of Insurance.
Javier Aguayo is back at his house, checking things out after the storm. He went to higher ground on Monday.
His property is covered in mud, and many of his items are damaged. "I lost all my tools, I lose my cars, and all the furniture," he said.
Aguayo is partially in luck though. He has multiple homes on a property, and one of them is flood-insured.
"I've been here 45 years and it's never happened before," Aguayo said of the damage.
Angela Hampton lives just up the street, and she's covered.
" I just feel guilty, like I'm one of the only ones that have it," She told ABC 10News. "I'm so grateful, but I just feel for my neighbors."
There's a reason that many of her neighbors don't have it.
Have you ever heard that song, "It Never Rains in Southern California"? Aaron Farmer asks rhetorically.
Farmer is the CEO of California Flood Insurance.
He explains that if you buy a home with a federally backed mortgage, you're required to have flood insurance if you live in a FEMA-designated high-risk zone.
Using a software program, he showed ABC 10News that most homes on Beta Street, which is where much of the Southcrest damage is, are not required to have flood insurance. That applies to much of the state.
"This is an x zone," he says. "So this is a low-risk zone."
But low risk doesn't mean no risk.
"30% of all floods happen in low-risk zones," Farmer said.
Unfortunately, it's likely why many of the homeowners are underinsured for the flooding.
Neighbors though are frustrated the flooding happened in the first place. Dozens gathered in the street Wednesday, blaming the city for not painting a nearby creek that overflowed.
