SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — For a year-and-a-half, victims of last year's historic January floods have been critical of the response by the City of San Diego. Now, a new audit supports many of their claims.
The 79-page report from the Office of the City Auditor looks at the City's response to the floods, identifies what went wrong and offers recommendations for the future.
“How would you grade the city's response to the floods on the day of and the weeks that followed?" ABC 10News asked Monica Garcia, whose family was impacted.
"Zero," she replied. "Zero to 10? Zero. Can I go below that?"
Garcia's mother and five relatives evacuated their home on Beta Street in the Southcrest neighborhood when the floods hit in early 2024.
“It has devastated us because we were homeless at that point," Garcia said. "That's what made it even worse because you didn't know what to do."
That feeling of confusion was conveyed through the audit. It said, while the City "effectively managed the immediate emergency," the long-term response was flawed.
For example, it said resource flyers contained "translational errors or inaccurate information," since the Emergency Operations Plan "did not account for communicating with residents in languages other than English."
That is, if they even got into the hands of the public at all, which Garcia claimed wasn't always the case.
“Some of the flyers, and access for different things, were not provided to everyone," she said. "If you were there at the moment, you got it. If you were not there, they wouldn't even leave it at your porch or somewhere for you could have access to that information.”
The audit highlights a clear divide between the community's expectations and the City's planned response. It said the community wanted long-term, non-congregate sheltering, help cleaning up their homes and City support for human services.
Instead, it said the City focused on creating a congregate emergency shelter, focused on restoring City infrastructure and relied on non-governmental organizations to provide human services.
“If it wasn't for nonprofits, and neighbors with neighbors, and communities coming together with communities, the few that you knew have relatives in between, it would have been even worse than what we are right now," Garcia said.
The audit also questions communication decisions made by Mayor Todd Gloria and his administration.
It said "The Mayor's Office wanted to approve public communication due to the sensitive nature of the even, but this process deviated from best practices and caused some delays and confusion."
The audit also said, while hosting or attending a town hall for affected residents after a disaster is a best practice, "Mayor's Office staff denied the Inicident Management Team's request for a town hall."
In response to the audit, Mayor Gloria shared this statement with ABC 10News Wednesday.
“This was an unprecedented, 1,000-year storm and flood event that required immediate urgency and action to prevent loss of life and assist residents in their recovery while also being empathetic to the tragedy they just experienced.
“That’s why I, along with my Community Engagement Team, were on the ground in the hardest hit neighborhoods from day one and stayed for weeks, ensuring the City of San Diego’s response and alignment of resources were informed by affected residents and met the needs. That work led to a FEMA disaster declaration and several programs being set up to assist residents.
“With a disaster of this magnitude, there will inevitably be lessons learned, and adjustments will be made.”
A willingness to adjust has already been put on display.
The audit came up with a list of 23 total recommendations to help the City avoid the same struggles in the future, from creating a better framework to set out every agency's role, to better training and updating the City's Emergency Operations Plan.
Chris Heiser, Executive Directory of the City's Office of Emergency Services, said city officials agree with all 23 recommendations.
City Councilmember Vivian Moreno issued this statement to ABC 10News on Wednesday.
“I requested the City Auditor conduct an audit of the City’s response efforts to the devastating floods in January 2024 because I witnessed firsthand the failure of the city to effectively communicate with residents who very much needed help and guidance. Which is why I mobilized my office to begin door-to-door outreach immediately after the floods because that kind of outreach simply was not taking place. The Auditor confirmed what I saw and found that the City does not have a plan to ensure it quickly and effectively communicates response and recovery information with all members of the public after a disaster. I strongly support the Audit’s recommendations and hope to see them implemented so that when disaster strikes in the future, the city will be better prepared to serve its residents.”
This report will now go before the Audit Committee the morning of July 25th.
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