SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Clean-up is a slow and heartbreaking process for some of the artists at The Underground in Little Italy. The split-level building that houses the artists’ colony was flooded Sunday morning by a water main break that took hours to repair. One workman estimated that 200,000 gallons of water flowed through the area Sunday.
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Gabriella Saravia is one of several artists trying to salvage her work and tools from the flood.
"It's devastating," she said. "It hurts.”
She was poking through the mess in the building at Kettner Boulevard and Juniper Street.
“Everybody relies on this place, day to day, for work and to produce money for their families and there’s about three of us who could be without a career 'cause of the setbacks," Saravia said. "When all of your money is in your tools and space, it’s devastating.”
Saravia walked 10News through other damaged of the building. She’s particularly upset about another studio and the woman who has lost so much.
"This is her livelihood; all her artwork," Saravia said. "After going through a couple of rough years health-wise, to have only this space left, a place of solitude and have all the pieces ruined..."
Officials say it may be weeks or months before the totality of their losses is known. Engineers will soon inspect for structural damage.
