LAKESIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — A month after New Year's Day flooding devastated an unincorporated El Cajon neighborhood, residents are still cleaning up and preparing for future storms as more rain approaches.
The flooding originated from a creek along El Dorado Parkway that spilled over its banks on New Year's Day, turning the road into a river. Homes were flooded, and one woman was rescued by the fire department.
Brenda Fry has lived in the area for 26 years and has been living out of her craft room ever since the rest of her home was flooded.
"It's been a nightmare," Fry said.
Fry had to be carried out by the fire department during the flooding.
"I had to be carried out by the fire department. I mean, that was just so horrifying," Fry said.
One of her bedrooms had 100 gallons of water pumped out, but crews couldn't remove more because the rest was mixed with dirt. Her prized possessions, including a record album collection featuring the Beatles and other vintage music, were destroyed.
"I had a record album collection. I had the Beatles and yeah from the old, old days, yeah, I had all those, and I even had the little 45s too. That's my life," Fry said.
Between dealing with flood insurance, FEMA, and her bank, trying to get funding to repair her home has been challenging.
"I didn't cause this flood. I feel like I'm being treated like the criminal," Fry said.
With more rain forecast for next week, residents in the area are taking action to prepare for possible flooding. Debris from the New Year's Day storm remains stuck on fences, and residents have placed sandbags to prevent future devastation.
Sergio, a local resident, said the community is taking matters into their own hands.
"I think we need to do something, you know. Most of the people here are not sitting down on our butts and waiting for somebody to come and rescue us, so we had to act somehow," Sergio said.
"We gotta fix the stuff that we are capable of doing it instead of waiting for help, because you never know if the help is gonna arrive or not," Sergio said.
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