SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — When storms threaten San Diego, the San Diego River Park Foundation mobilizes quickly to warn people living in the riverbed to seek higher ground before dangerous flooding occurs.
The San Diego River stretches 52 miles from Julian to Ocean Beach, with much of the riverbed designated as a flood zone, particularly in Mission Valley and the Fashion Valley Mall area.
"A lot of the San Diego Riverbed is a flood zone, especially here in Mission Valley and Fashion Valley Mall," said Rachel Downing, program manager for the Clean River Team at the San Diego River Park Foundation.
Rainfall in the region is unpredictable, and Downing said current projections for Monday's storm indicate water levels could reach about 6.5 feet at the Fashion Valley Mall.
For people with nowhere else to go, flooding presents serious dangers.
Lawrence DeWolf, who has been living in the riverbed, recalled the New Year's weekend storm and how he experienced flooding quickly.
"Well, the water comes in really fast. I can tell you that. I wasn't prepared. I lost all my stuff the last time it flooded," DeWolf said. "I woke up this morning and found out it was going to rain, so I set up my tent real quick and threw my stuff in there, and it started raining," DeWolf said as he prepared to leave the riverbed for El Cajon.
"Nobody's really prepared for the rain because it doesn't rain enough here," DeWolf said.
The foundation heard similar, troubling accounts from the January 2026 storm.
"We did unfortunately hear stories of people losing everything that they had — their clothing, their belongings, their ID cards," Downing said. "We did hear that there were some swift water rescues that were happening in this area during the storm."
Just days ago, Downing deployed teams to about eight different locations stretching from Santee to Ocean Beach, warning people living in encampments about approaching storms.
"Not everybody has access to a cell phone and the Internet," Downing said. "So a lot of the times when they're hearing about these storms from our teams, it's the first time that they're hearing that it's going to rain."
According to the latest Point in Time Count, a census tracking unhoused populations, the San Diego River Park Foundation found about 148 people living in the riverbed, most of them in the City of San Diego.
The stretch from Santee to Ocean Beach covers 24 miles, requiring Downing and her team an entire day to complete their outreach efforts.
Downing's teams include interns, partners from homeless outreach organization PATH, San Diego Park Rangers, and, most importantly, volunteers. Downing said, besides warning the unhoused of possible flooding, the river park foundation also helps with debris and trash cleanup, and collects data for the foundation.
People interested in volunteering to help save lives ahead of storms can connect with the San Diego River Park Foundation here.
