Dozens of SJ apartment residents clean up after creek floods units
SJ residents clean up after flooding from storms
More than a dozen apartment units in east San Jose were flooded from Thursday's storm, which forced residents into hotels. Friday the clean up continued.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - On Valentine's Day at the Betty Ann Garden Apartments, the sounds and sights of power washers and mud were most visible, not flowers and chocolates.
This, as abatement crews worked most of the day trying to clean up a mess left by Mother Nature.
"When you look at it on TV and see it affect others, until it hits your house, you'll never understand," said flooding victim Lisa Rhines.
During the late afternoon, she was shifting through what could be salvaged inside her ground-floor one-bedroom apartment. Hers was one of 16 units that sustained damage when a day-long downpour Thursday pushed the nearby Upper Penitencia Creek over its banks and into some homes.
"We had DOT crews that were actually in the area driving and spotted it. They quickly shut down King Road from Mayberry to Berryessa Avenue," said Colin Hayne, a spokesman for the San Jose Department of Transportation.
The quick response and efforts by neighbors to push back the rising tide ultimately failed. More than a dozen units were flooded.
"We lost important papers, like everything that we had. We had clothes, shoes, everything got lost," said affected resident Sandra Enriquez.
Added Rhines, "Clothes, shoes, computers, furniture, bed, my recliner… all my other personal stuff."
Affected residents told KTVU Fox 2 the apartment's management company is paying for cleaning services and hotel rooms for a week.
The Upper Penitencia Creek is prone to flooding during unusually heavy periods or rain. City officials said the flood's cause is still being investigated, and that this natural disaster will be discussed during an annual preparedness meeting to better align priorities for the next rainy season.
"We look at all our hot spots. We look at all the maintenance and preparation that we've done. This is definitely going to factor into that meeting next year," Hayne said.
For residents of the 16 affected units, this year is the priority. Many don't have renter's insurance and will be left to fend for themselves.
"The community, we pull together, we help each other support each other. But we need our city to pull together with us too," said Rhines.
This flooding took place in the 4th council district. It's rep, David Cohen, said he will meet with the city's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) in the next 24 hours, and then will meet with the apartment's management to see if affected residents can be helped quickly in the short-term, without the city's intervention.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on the Instagram platform, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU