SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - County officials say an address search is to blame for a hotel mix-up for some flooding victims.
“I wake up in the morning. It feels like I'm hit by a bus. My body just hurts,” said Xochitl Delgado.
For Delgado, the stress is not letting up.
More than three weeks ago, floodwaters swamped her rented, Logan Heights home, destroying the belongings of her family of six, including her three children.
As county officials took over the hotel voucher process for flood victims, she was sent a text message Monday with the name and address of their new hotel, the Hotel Primera in San Ysidro. When she and her daughter went to look at it Tuesday afternoon, they were told it had been shuttered since June.
Delgado says a county worker told her it was a mix-up and other flood victims had been sent the wrong address. She was then told the booking was for the apartments next door, at the San Ysidro Studios.
When she returned to the area Tuesday night, she says she didn't feel safe.
“There was already police outside. People roaming around the area,” said Delgado.
Sources tell us squatters at the shut-down hotel have led to reports of criminal activity.
In late January, one man was killed, and two others were injured in a triple shooting near the hotel.
“It wasn't somewhere I wanted to take my kids to,” said Delgado.
Delgado left and checked into a motel in Mission Valley, paying out of pocket.
“I have no savings left. I’m living paycheck to paycheck, after losing everything,” said Delgado.
Delgado said later that night, alone in her vehicle, she reached a breaking point.
“I started crying. I broke down, screaming in my car, asking the Lord to help me,” said Delgado.
ABC 10News reached out county officials for a response to her frustrations, and the mix-up.
In a statement, a County spokesperson says, “We regret any stress this mix-up caused the Delgado family. They were not booked at the boarded-up hotel. They were booked into the one next door. The booking was done via telephone, and the hotel was expecting the family. The mix-up came from the address search … The hotels share a driveway. But a subsequent address search showed both properties have different street addresses. The more accurate address was given to others sent to this hotel.”
As for hopes for another hotel, Delgado says county workers told her this.
“They are working on it. They told me to stick it out for two days … It’s very frustrating,” said Delgado.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help the Delgado family obtain permanent housing.
