When a fire ravages a community, its impacts are clearly visible. Its billows and haze of smoke are seen for miles, and its flames leave behind only charred hillsides and husks of homes. The same can’t be said of a flood. The water that surges into homes and forces residents onto roofs can just as quickly recede, leaving only mud, muck and trash within hours. This week, thousands of San Diegans are marking a year since historic floods decimated their communities, and for many of them, the depth of devastation has been mostly unseen. More than a thousand families were forced from their homes Jan. 22, 2024 — one of the city’s wettest days on record — when waterways like Chollas Creek in Southcrest overflowed into neighborhoods. Some of those people are still working to rebuild. Some have moved away. Others have returned home. The latter consider themselves lucky, even when their lives have been upended. Sandra Garcia is one. Last January, she lost not just everything in her Shelltown home but also her husband of 47 years. Sandra Garcia is among the flood survivors who attended the anniversary commemoration held on the corner of Osborn and Cottonwood streets on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in San Diego. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) “Everything was taken away from me. The videos of my kids and my husband, my wedding dress that I saved,” the 68-year-old said in Spanish. “Many beautiful, memorable things that I loved with all my heart — and my husband.” Juan Manuel Garcia, 79, had been sick but stable and active, she said, showing a video of him singing in his wheelchair just weeks earlier. On Jan. 22, they and their 10-year-old granddaughter had to be rescued by their son from the rising waters. Juan Manuel died four days later. “I lost a lot, and I still haven’t absorbed the loss of my husband,” Garcia said. Shelltown residents Sandra and Juan Manuel Garcia were married for 47 years before he died last January, four days after historic floods swept through the couple’s home. (Courtesy of Sandra Garcia) Now, she’s trying to summon the courage she had to find last year — courage she says her husband gave her. “It’s a lifetime that is impossible to forget,” she says, and it gives her strength. “I’m here in the fight, as they say, thankful for everything.” Garcia is back home on Osborn Street. She drained her savings to rebuild. She still needs to replace lost belongings and pay her property taxes and a $2,400 water bill. But she’s refused more help. She’s grateful, but she wants others to have it. Her friend Elena Burgos, 66, still isn’t back home. Earlier this month, as she pulled up to her Beta Street house, she began crying. “I want to come home,” she said. “I’m tired of feeling homeless.” Her Southcrest community was hit especially hard. Beta Street runs parallel to the Southcrest Trails Park that lines Chollas Creek, which was filled with vegetation and debris the day of the flood. For months after, the neighborhood was a ghost town. Burgos drives by to check on her house every day. But this visit was her first in weeks when she had a key to get in and see the progress made. Inside are new floors, new kitchen cabinets, a new sink. The bathrooms aren’t yet done. Only half the new windows are installed; others remain broken and taped. Elena Burgos stands just outside her home in the Southcrest community on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in San Diego, CA. Burgos’ is among the many homes that were flooded back in January 2024 and remains under construction. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) As she walked through the house, she pointed out where she might put a kitchen table and listed things she’d need right away — pans, spoons. “I’m going to start over,” she said. It will be a long road to restore the home she grew up in, full of memories of her late father. ‘Still finding more houses’ Burgos is one of many neighbors along Beta still working to return to normal. On a recent visit by San Diego Union-Tribune reporters, nearly all of the 61 properties that could be seen along the half-mile stretch were visibly impacted by the floods. But that number is just a fraction of the local families who have been affected. Many properties are multi-family homes. Some have ADUs. Even single-family homes typically house more than one household, explained Clariza Marin, who has been helping organize flood recovery efforts. Of those 61 homes, around 10 were still under active construction last week. More than 20 had either city-provided dumpsters still in their driveways or detritus still in their yards. At least one looked like it hadn’t been touched since the floods; metal sheeting and debris littered the yard. The process has dragged on despite a city effort to expedite the recovery by waiving permit fees for rebuilding — a move the city said this week had saved those residents about $80,000. The residents on Beta Street in Southcrest begin the cleanup after their homes were severely flooded in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)Close to one year after a flood devastated Beta Street in the Southcrest community on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, residents continue to rebuild. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Show Caption1 of 2The residents on Beta Street in Southcrest begin the cleanup after their homes were severely flooded in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)Expand Since the floods, the city of San Diego says it received 77 applications for flood-related construction permits, approved 59 and issued 67 permits — some applications were for multiple permits. Last week, more than a quarter of those 61 homes along Beta had visibly new exteriors, whether a fresh paint job, vinyl fences or new windows. One looked like an entirely new manufactured home. Marin says the city has worked to push through permits quickly, holding webinars in English and Spanish to help with paperwork. But it’s not that easy, she adds. Some homes are so damaged or so old their owners must submit full building plans for electrical, plumbing and more. “Yes, the city’s waiving fees, and yes, they’re being helpful with the application process — but everything still needs to be brought up to current building code,” Marin said. Some flood victims have gotten city financial aid, after the county gave the San Diego Housing Commission $4.2 million to create a program to help eligible homeowners and tenants fix their homes or find new ones. More than 400 families had gotten $5.3 million as of earlier this month. But the aid came with specific parameters, it went only to city residents, and it was initially available only to families who had stayed in hotels on county vouchers just after the disaster. Tony Tricario speaks with Clariza Marin in his apartment complex in the Southcrest community on Thursday, May 23, 2024. All 11 units were flooded and badly damaged by floods in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Clariza Marin was among the guests who attended the flood anniversary commemoration held for neighbors on the corner of Osborn and Cottonwood streets on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in San Diego, CA. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Clariza Marin speaks at a press conference on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, held by county Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe as she presents an audit of Equus Workforce Solutions, the contractor that facilitated the county’s hotel voucher program for flood victims. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Show Caption1 of 3Tony Tricario speaks with Clariza Marin in his apartment complex in the Southcrest community on Thursday, May 23, 2024. All 11 units were flooded and badly damaged by floods in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Expand To help people who weren’t eligible, community groups like the Harvey Family Foundation created an aid program of their own to provide the construction, labor and materials to rebuild. The group has completed 55 rebuilds, says Marin, who last year became its chief financial officer to help with flood recovery. It’s actively working on another 12. Three homes are “stuck” — dealing with larger construction issues, such as foundation problems — and six more are being onboarded, with work set to begin in the coming weeks. “We have an ambitious goal of completing 18 homes over the course of the next six to eight weeks,” Marin said. “But that doesn’t mean there’s no more houses, because sadly we’re still finding more houses.” She and Armon Harvey, the nonprofit’s leader, have been going door to door in affected neighborhoods to find families who never got help. They’ve since gotten nonstop calls; they got four new leads in the last week alone. “Some of the houses that we’re just now finding — it’s disgusting,” she said. “They should not be living like that.” Armon Harvey, leader of the Harvey Family Foundation, attended the flood anniversary commemoration held on the corner of Osborn and Cottonwood streets in the Southcrest community on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Armon Harvey speaks at the annual Jackie Robinson YMCA’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Dignity Award Breakfast at the Town and Country Resort on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker for The San Diego Union-Tribune) Show Caption1 of 2Armon Harvey, leader of the Harvey Family Foundation, attended the flood anniversary commemoration held on the corner of Osborn and Cottonwood streets in the Southcrest community on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Expand ‘A tough situation’ For all the damage, few people have sold their homes in Southcrest. Only three homes on Beta and Birch sold in the last year, real estate data show, and one home on Beta had a for-sale sign up last week. The three-bedroom home appears newly renovated in photos and was listed on Zillow as pending sale for $749,000. It last sold in 2023 for $600,000. But many former Southcrest tenants have left. And for some, another cliff is coming. Families who leased new homes at rents higher than they could afford got a temporary reprieve with rental subsidies and other aid — but as it begins to run dry, they must once again find an affordable place to live. Marin said she’s already heard from six families in the past month who are behind on their rent and have received past-due or eviction notices. “We’re not in touch with even the majority of the flood survivors; we touched a small fraction,” she added. “So if we’re getting a few, that’s an indication that it’s actually affecting more.” Jerry Hernandez waits in the lobby of the Ramada Hotel in National City where he is living after his home in Southcrest flooded in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Jerry Hernandez was living in a rented home on Beta with his adult son and daughter when it flooded last January. Photos and mementos of his children’s youth were lost to the floodwaters. In the aftermath, he went to the hospital twice for a stomach virus. His son got pneumonia. In May, the two moved to Mission Valley. It’s not ideal — their new apartment is harder for Hernandez, who’s disabled, to move around. But the risk of staying in Southcrest, he says, was too great. In his seven years there, his home flooded twice when Chollas Creek overflowed. The first time, in 2018, a group of neighbors sued the city. They settled for just over $200,000, but the agreement didn’t require the city to make improvements to the flood channel. “They’re cleaning out that creek, but people are still hesitant,” Hernandez said. “The second flood was frightening. We don’t want to go through that again after we lost everything.” Now, residents are suing again. Hernandez is one of the 1,500 plaintiffs involved in litigation accusing the city of stormwater system mismanagement they argue led to the 2024 flooding and damage. So far, at least 35 separate lawsuits have been filed demanding millions in damages. More are still coming. A group of the plaintiffs’ attorneys is coordinating to ensure the litigation is heard by the same judge and follows a similar timeline. But progress has been slow. There have only been a few hearings so far, and the case has been reassigned three times. “We’re sitting here almost a year later, and we still have concerned residents who … don’t feel confident that the city has addressed the problem,” said lawyer Domenic Martini. “It’s a tough situation for people to be in.” Karla Gomez Rodrigues and Javier Pizzano clean up their apartment after floods in January 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / The San Diego Union-Tribune)San Diego Police officers wade through a flooded Imperial Ave. near Tailgate Park to check on stranded motorists during historic floods on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)A vehicle stuck on a fence after heavy rain Monday caused flooding near Birch and Una Streets in Southcrest on Jan. 23, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)During the brief breaks from the rain on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in San Diego, CA, and despite her home being damaged by the last week's flood, Ana Moran, 56 did her best to keep the water off her property on Beta Street in the Southcrest community. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)Heavy rains flood five homes on Paradise Valley Road and 8th St. Residents deal with aftermath a day after the storm. Resident Roy Gouge 63, looking at the damage to his home in National City on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Flooding in late January 2024 on Paradise Valley Road and 8th Street in San Diego after a massive storm hit the region. (U-T)Show Caption1 of 6Karla Gomez Rodrigues and Javier Pizzano clean up their apartment after floods in January 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / The San Diego Union-Tribune)Expand ‘We all helped each other’ Even for those who have moved home and tried to resume their lives, the financial strain persists. Lisa Sheffield, a Kaiser nurse, lives in Spring Valley with her two adult sons and their fiancees, two grandchildren and her disabled husband, who gets dialysis treatment three times a week. The day of the flood, a foot of water flowed through their home at the bottom of Dictionary Hill, ruining her husband’s medical equipment. Debris flooded the yard, and floodwaters rose high enough to cover the steering wheel in her son’s car. Just after the flood, the family stayed at a Ramada hotel using a county voucher, then got $14,000 from FEMA to help cover rent and expenses and finally moved home in June. But the aid wasn’t enough to cover their home repairs, and after her appeals for more failed, Sheffield withdrew half the money from her 401(k) — about $45,000 — just to get the repairs started. She showed up to various county meetings to tearfully plead for more help. Flood victims Keirington Pankey, center, and his mother, Lisa Sheffield, show photos of a flooded culvert near their Spring Valley home to Justin Gamble, Watershed Protection Program Manager at County of San Diego Public Works, at an assistance center for flood victims at the Spring Valley Library on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) She’s spent at least $150,000 to remediate mold, remove asbestos, install new floors, walls and cabinets and add a concrete drainage system to the backyard. She qualified for a Small Business Association loan to help, and she took out a second mortgage. “I don’t know how I’m going to replace my 401(k),” she said. Now, “that house is my retirement.” Other families like the Navarros on Beta Street know that struggle. As of November, Martha Navarro and her husband, Jose, had already spent about $25,000 re-furnishing their home with beds for her two children, couches and cooking utensils. Their savings have taken a hit. And now they face higher flood insurance costs, too. Earlier this year, their insurance company notified them that it would no longer provide flood coverage in their neighborhood starting in March. With a new plan, Navarro says their flood insurance rate will rise from about $1,000 to between $3,500 and $5,000. But she’s happy to be back home near their neighbors. They’ve all grown closer through last year’s ordeal. Martha Navarro looks for the flood insurance cancellation letter from her home insurance. The Navarro home is among those homes on Beta Street that was damaged from the flood almost a year ago. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Jose and his wife Martha Navarro move wet furniture out of their home after historic floods devestated their home on Beta Street in Southcrest in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Martha Navarro recalls when she first saw the flood by watching remotely on her security camera and noticed her puppy nearly drowning on the back porch of her home on Beta Street in Southcrest in January 2024. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Show Caption1 of 3Martha Navarro looks for the flood insurance cancellation letter from her home insurance. The Navarro home is among those homes on Beta Street that was damaged from the flood almost a year ago. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Expand Standing in her newly remodeled kitchen this month, she recalled the kindness of volunteers in the days following the floods — one woman cooked for them, others brought toothbrushes and diapers. “We all helped each other,” she said. That camaraderie was evident Wednesday evening, when dozens gathered outside a home on Osborn Street in Shelltown to honor the anniversary of the floods and the community’s strength. A vendor hired by the Harvey foundation served tacos, and volunteers dished up plates full of salmon, pasta salad and rice and beans. Dancers from Danza Azteca Maya and musicians from the youth group Mariachi Orgullo Nacional performed. Isa Rosales, who runs a tamale business in El Cajon, was there serving meals — something she’s done for survivors over the last year since the floods. She’s seen how the community has struggled. In the early days, she recalls, the streets were quiet and dark. But in time, residents would wait outside for her to arrive with dinner. Despite the destruction, “it felt like home still,” she said. There’s a long way to go. But today, she said, “it’s so much more alive.” People whose neighborhoods flooded last year attend the anniversary commemoration on the corner of Osborn and Cottonwood streets on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in San Diego.  (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)