SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Residents living in Logan Heights are throwing out furniture and remodeling their homes after flood waters ripped through their neighborhood on New Year’s Day.
“It's frustrating,” said Steve Levey, a landlord who owns nine affordable rental units on Logan Avenue.
Levey estimated the New Year’s Day flooding caused about $10,000 in damage to one of his units. Drywall was soaked, and flooring was ruined inside his tenant’s apartment, he said.
“For him, it’s the third time in three different apartments that he has been hit by flooding out of Chollas Creek,” Levey said.
Levey’s wife, Daryl Nann, showed Team 10 messages she sent to the City of San Diego in November 2025, asking what was being done to protect the area from flooding.
In the written correspondence, Daryl told the city debris left behind by homeless people was in nearby stormwater infrastructure.
She said she contacted the city because in January 2024, five of her rental units were badly damaged by floodwaters, and a tenant had to be rescued by boat.
“I wanted to make sure nobody gets hurt and no flooding will occur,” she said in the message sent to a city compliance manager.
The city didn’t respond to her message or Get It Done report, Daryl said.
When Team 10 stopped by the Chollas Creek storm channel across the street from the couple’s rental units we saw industrial waste, drug paraphernalia, clothing, food and other trash.
Levey and other residents on Logan Avenue say the trash clogs the channel and causes it to overfill with water that spills onto nearby streets and their homes.
“Sometimes people dump trash, and it’s there for weeks, sometimes months,” said Jesus Herrera, who said six of his cars were damaged in the recent rain.
It was déjà vu for Herrera, who had to move after the January 2024 flood from a house around the corner.
Herrera said he and his girlfriend went outside to unclog a storm drain in front of his home on New Year’s Day.
“As soon as we start(ed) sweeping all the trash, the water started like sinking in.”
Herrera believes the damage to his vehicles could’ve been prevented if city crews performed maintenance on the storm drain and the Chollas Creek storm channel across the street.
“You have to clean more. You have to make sure that we're spending our dollars on the right spot because (otherwise) we're losing more money. We're paying taxes and everything for the streets to be all trashed.”
The city told Team 10 in a statement the flood channels near Logan Avenue were cleared in February 2024 and January 2025.
"In addition, nearby inlets, catch basins, and outfalls are included in the city’s routine maintenance and inspection program, which is conducted annually and, when needed, on a request basis. The most recent inspections were completed in August 2025," city spokesman Ramon Galindo said.
He said the city has staff checking storm drains in low-lying communities when it rains and explained that heavy rain and debris can reduce a flood channel's ability to hold water. The channel can also have less capacity during high-tide conditions like San Diego experienced last week, Galindo said.
"As part of the city’s proactive approach to flood risk awareness, notifications are routinely provided to property owners within the FEMA floodplain to inform them of potential flood impacts and to encourage mitigation measures, such as elevating vulnerable structures," Galindo said.
Galindo added that regional improvement projects are being planned to address flood-prone areas.
Investigative reporter Austin Grabish can be reached at austin.grabish@10news.com.
