SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A New Year's Day storm turned into a nightmare for Mission Hills residents and business owners as flooding caused thousands of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, and streets.
The flooding occurred early Thursday morning at the corner of Arroyo Drive, State Street, and Reynard Way, where waterlines on buildings show just how high the water reached. Neighbors and business owners say they've never seen flooding like this before.
Stephen Alberts, who owns a video production business in the area, surveyed the damage to his studio Friday.
"The water came into the studios, it's covered, everything in there was under 3 feet of muddy contaminated water," Alberts said.
The flooding also devastated Rewind Skin, an esthetics business next door to Alberts' studio. Security video from inside the business looking out towards the street shows water several feet high. After the water receded, mud covered every inch of the business.
"I was like oh my god," said Juliet Penkin, the owner of Rewind Skin.
"Very overwhelming, because this is still fairly new, we just opened up in April," said Penkin.
The cleanup continues on State Street as the mud dries up. Cars still parked on the street show the extent of the flooding.
Samantha Seiders, who lives next to both businesses, woke up to water rushing into her home.
"Happy New Year to me. I woke up to the sound of rushing water," Seiders said.
She said the flooding happened in a matter of minutes early Thursday morning.
"We're just kind of waiting to see what happens next. As of right now, this is completely uninhabitable," Seiders said.
It's unclear what led to the flooding, but neighbors say the street drains had to be cleared by the fire department. Many are wondering whether nearby construction had anything to do with it.
For now, the cleanup continues as residents and business owners work to recover.
"Trying to get the remediation team in as soon as possible to start drying everything out and filing insurance claims," Alberts said.
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