NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) — After two floods in two years, a National City resident finally received long-awaited news about a grate she'd been asking city officials to remove.
During the Jan. 22, 2024, rainstorm, Sherry Gogue — who lives on East 8th Street — was flooded along with her neighbors because the culvert that circles around her home spilled out with rushing waters in a matter of minutes.
On that day, the waters rose dangerously high and fast, pinning Gogue's husband and son against their home as they tried to escape.
Gogue said that happened because the culvert around her home overflowed and didn't properly drain, and blames that failure on a grate that sits in the culvert.
According to signage the National City posted next to the culver, the grate was meant to filter debris and trash from clogging the storm drains.
The grate was down and did just that on Jan. 22, 2024 -- it forced all the stormwater out of the culvert and sent the waters straight toward five homes on East 8th St., including Gogue's.
Gogue's home, along with her neighbors, was destroyed by floodwaters and it wasn't the first time.
Gogue said her home was destroyed by floodwaters the year before on Martin Luther King Jr. Day during another storm event. Gogue said the grate was also down that day.
Since the Jan. 22, 2024, storm, Gogue said she went to 30 National City Council meetings in the past year, pleading with council to remove the grate.
Also, after the 2024 storm, Gogue and her neighbors hired attorney Brian Gonzalez to represent them in a lawsuit suing National City for damages caused by the grate it installed.
In December, Gogue said she received some long-awaited news from Gonzalez -- a letter stating the city's intent to remove the grate.
"When we heard, it was elation," Gogue said. "It was the feeling that a small voice can be heard."
Now, Gogue and her neighbors are just waiting for the date when this grate will be removed.
