- For months, Wale Aliyu has talked with people in Southcrest and other neighborhoods who lost their houses and much more.
- He's learned a lot about their lives, like the Lopez family, who lost their mother-in-law during the floods.
- He also spoke to Robert and Judy Banks, who took our team inside their home as thick mud covered all traces of their green carpet.
- Now, there's one woman the neighbors keep talking about who we hadn't met yet, and they're concerned.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Jan. 22, 2024: A day that changed thousands of people's lives. The rain was relentless, flooding creeks, watersheds and eventually streets and homes.
When things dried out, residents in several cities across the county were welcomed back to homes full of mud and mold. We followed them for months, tracking their journey to clean up, rebuild and for some, the harsh reality that it was time to just move on.
For everyone who wasn't impacted, it's easy to move on and forget that day and the people involved.
But we won't.
ABC 10News returned to a southeast San Diego neighborhood, following through with the victims of the flood.
The home we went to looks like it's in the middle of a rebuild, and it is, but it's also where a 69-year-old woman says is the only place she has to lay her head.
I would've loved to tell you I finally got to check on Miss Lee myself, but I can't because when she heard we were coming, she made sure she wasn't around.
So, instead of showing her, I'll show you the nails on her floor, the spider webs where her walls are supposed to live and the makeshift bed where she is not supposed to be sleeping.
"How does somebody live in these conditions? Well, she hid it from us at first," says Tye Waller, Lee's nephew. "She didn't want anybody to know. I came back a couple of weeks ago to try to start the rebuilding, and I saw she was living here."
Waller says he doesn't know whether to call his aunt camera shy or self conscious. He says she's been living in her Mountain View home for the last month, ever since her housing money from FEMA ran out, and for that, he doesn't know whether to call her proud or stubborn.
"We didn't recommend that to her... We are trying to help her out, but that's something she wanted to do and that's why we are in a hurry to see what we can do to get this back to, so she can be at home," Waller says.
Growing mold was the only way they talked the 69-year-old woman out of not staying put after the Jan. 22 flood brought 5 feet of water inside.
With no insurance and limited resources, the last seven and a half months have been a slow rebuild, mostly out of pocket.
"I would hire out a couple of my buddies for the work when I could get them, but when they found out all the work that was involve,d it's hard to keep people coming every day," Waller says.
Finally, some good news came her way when she qualified for a grant from the San Diego Housing Commission. I would've loved to tell you her situation is turning around.
But it's not.
The problem is, even though she's been here almost her whole life, she's technically not the homeowner.
The deed is still in the name of a family member who died, and she was told it'll take months, if not years, before that paperwork gets sorted and she can qualify for the money.
"She's the perfect model of the type of person we are trying to save before it's too late," says Armon Harvey from the Harvey Family Foundation. "If we cannot cut through the red tape fast enough, all the resources will be dried up and she will be left with living here or being homeless, and this is definitely not the condition she needs to be living in."
Harvey is recovering from an injury that doctors say he may have sustained while helping flood victims. Harvey says that's not even the most frustrating part of this. Seeing the dozens and dozens of families still in need as more are reaching out is what's front of mind to him.
I would have loved to end this story telling you Miss Lee's home is going to be renovated soon, but just like so many other flood victims, she's still waiting on a miracle.
"How does that make you feel knowing that your aunt is living in these conditions?" Aliyu asked.
"It's very sad. When you look at somebody that is willing to live this way, and really there's a lot of people that are doing the same thing because the resources are so short," Waller says.
The foundation's funds are depleting — if you're interested in contributing to the cause, you can follow this link.
