SPRING VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) - Thousands of students will head back to school in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, including many impacted by the January flooding.
Thursday is a big day for 6-year-old Alexa Rodriguez.
“It’s my first day of school! I feel excited!” said Alexa.
That feeling a far cry from the feelings after the January flooding submerged her family's home on Broadview Street in Spring Valley.
The homes was a total loss. Alexa’s grandparents didn't have flood insurance. Alexa was in school the day of the flood, but she did see the aftermath.
“Stuff everywhere. She was shocked. It was somewhere she called home that wasn't home anymore,” said Alexa's aunt, Jasmine Zepeda.
For more than a month, the family of five was in hotels, before they moved back into two rooms in the home, as they piecemealed the demo and reconstruction.
Sometimes, Alexa had trouble sleeping, especially when it rained.
“Every time when it rains, I feel our house is going to get flooded again,” said Alexa.
Months later, Zepeda says Alexa started to seem like her old self, after they got one specific piece of furniture.
“That's when we got our dinner table. We were together having dinner. We were home,” said Zepeda.
Still, with the family living in the rebuild, life has remained unsettled.
The family received a modest sum from FEMA, and the reconstruction is coming along slowly. They're still about four months away from wrapping up.
Before that big milestone comes a different big day, for Alexa.
“Gets her back to being in the normal,” said Zepeda.
“I get to see my friends, my new friends. Makes me happy,” said Alexa.
