Poor drainage blamed for San Mateo County flooding, but what's the solution?
Bay Area neighborhood rocked by flash flooding
Storms brought waist-high flooding to Broadmoor, causing an untold amount of damage.
DALY CITY, Calif. - The storms have moved out, but many across the Bay Area are in cleanup mode, after torrential rains led to flooding.
In and around Daly City, a major drainage problem added insult to injury, in areas that are already prone to flooding.
What they're saying:
Waist-deep water in his garage was the last thing Genesis Melosantos of Broadmoor was expecting on Christmas morning.
"Definitely did not ask Santa for any of this," said Melosantos.
Just before 3 a.m. Thursday, the skies opened over Broadmoor near Daly City.
Within half an hour, 88th and 89th Streets looked more like lakes.
"We're at the bottom of the slope right here, and so all the water goes to us," said Melosantos.
Car after car was almost fully submerged.
"Three cars are totaled," said Ricardo Cruz of Broadmoor.
Cruz and Ezra Talavera were going through soggy boxes Friday, after their garage filled with water that came within inches of flooding the house.
Water was coming through the side doors. And it just kept coming in from the backyard," said Cruz.
"It looked like our backyard was a pool," said Talavera.
"I was like, ‘how is this happening?’" said Cruz.
The ‘how,' officials say, is poor drainage.
The problem
"It's a $145 million problem," said San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President David Canepa.
Canepa says this has been going on for decades, and comes down to outdated infrastructure.
"Because these pipes were built 80, 90 years ago, the size of the pipe is so small so that when the rush of water comes in, the water actually backs up," said Canepa.
Canepa says the county, Daly City and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission have been partnering together to work on a solution for the past 25 years.
The solution
The solution? Revamping the Vista Grande Canal, which drains stormwater into the Pacific Ocean.
Canepa says $145 million in funding is finally in place and work is set to begin in June 2026 – but it'll take two-and-a-half years to finish.
In addition, Canepa cautions there could be construction delays.
"Hope's on its way," said Canepa. "This takes new infrastructure to make sure that these areas do not flood."
Residents welcome a solution.
"Any work to upgrade the system, we'll take it," said Talavera.
But they're not happy about the timeline.
"It needs to be a lot sooner than that," said Melosantos. "Most likely it's going to happen again next year and the year after that. What then, if it goes higher than that?"
In the meantime, homeowners and landlords have taken steps to try to mitigate the problem, but residents say a long-term fix is long overdue.
Some are even thinking about moving.
"Definitely," said Melosantos.
"I did start looking," said Cruz.
What you can do:
Many residents are in the process of filing insurance claims, and Canepa says some may be able to file claims with the county attorney's office as well.
Residents can pick up sandbags to gear up for the next storm at the Broadmoor Community Center.
The Source: Interviews by KTVU reporter John Krinjak