SOUTHCREST (KGTV) — With heavy rain expected Thursday night, Southcrest residents told ABC 10News they're worried about possible flooding around their homes, starting with the storm channel around Alpha St. and 38th St. and where it connects to the Alpha One storm drain at the Southcrest Trails Park.
A flood warning went into effect in San Diego at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
That storm channel is prone to flooding, like it did last year on Jan. 22.
"All the debris piled up on the bridge at 38th Street, and that's what created the flood and the fact that there's not enough storm drains in the area," Greg Montoya, a Southcrest resident heavily impacted by the 2024 storm, said.
Montoya is currently suing the City of San Diego for damages to his home caused by the storm, which is why he's been prepping his home for the heavy rain in recent months.
"What I'm scared of is that all that debris will go down to the main street and flood there, and it will start back flowing to us," Montoya said.
Montoya also said he's worried about flooding because he still sees trash and debris build up in the storm channel around his home, and he said one drain behind his house still hasn't been fixed by the city to prevent flooding.
"I had a panic attack last night," Montoya said. "I installed pumps, and I got cameras so I could see from [work], and if I notice the water starting to rise, I'm immediately gonna tell my boss I have to quit working and go there."
Montoya's neighbor, William Valadez, is a part of the same lawsuit as well.
"My basement was submerged in over six inches of water," Valadez said. "You can't put a price on what I lost. I'm scared that my basement is gonna flood again. Did they properly clean that channel to the point where this won't happen again?"
The City of San Diego said since last January it's cleaned 18 miles of stormwater channels citywide, including the storm channel both Montoya and Valadez live next to and are worried about.
The city said because it's expecting heavy rain this week, , it will be monitoring over 46,000 storm drains citywide.
