Mayor Todd Gloria declared a state of emergency Monday after the morning storm intensified and quickly dropped more than two inches of rain leading to dozens of street rescues, cars swept away and signs of major damage to transit infrastructure.
The worst off take it hardest: The city evacuated dozens of homeless San Diegans from one of the city’s Balboa Park safe sleeping sites and a large Barrio Logan shelter as rain fell Monday.
Homeless residents who had been staying at the 20th and B Street safe sleeping site are now temporarily staying at the Municipal Gym in Balboa Park while residents of Alpha Project’s 16th Street and Newton Street shelter moved into the Balboa Park Activity Center.
The two homeless-serving operations weren’t the only ones impacted by Monday downpours. Father Joe’s Villages, which along with a handful of others provides additional beds during cold and rainy weather, said Monday it couldn’t take in additional unsheltered people at one of its locations due to the weather. Alpha Project CEO Bob McElroy said his nonprofit’s Midway District shelter also dealt with flooding. Meanwhile, maintenance staff and volunteers hurried to address flooding at the Living Water Church of the Nazarene in East Village so they could shelter homeless San Diegans overnight.
More reporting: The U-T’s Blake Nelson followed evacuees as they tried to salvage belongings, medicine and anything they could from the large Alpha Project tent shelter at 16th and Newton.
Next steps for the evacuees: It wasn’t immediately clear how long people who moved from the city’s safe sleeping site and the Barrio Logan shelter would remain in the Balboa Park facilities. McElroy, whose shelter saw another forced evacuation after a rainstorm in 2018, said he expected it would take weeks to clean and prep the tent structure for residents. Before and during Monday’s evacuation, McElroy said residents and staff trudged through water and initially walked to the Metropolitan Transit System parking structure so buses could take them to Balboa Park.
“The resilience of these folks is what makes me not want to give up,” McElroy said.
Southcrest, of course: Scenes of flooded freeways, people using paddle boards in Oceanside and Ocean Beach coarsed through social media. But flooding was most intense where it always is: Southcrest. We wrote about where flooding is always most intense.
Related: Monday’s rainstorm wreaked havoc on San Diego’s neighborhoods. Officials shut down highways, trolley service and rerouted buses.
For those seeking shelter, the Red Cross has opened an overnight emergency shelter at Lincoln High School, 4777 Imperial Ave., for residents impacted by flooding and storm damage. The city of San Diego has also opened a temporary shelter at the Golden Hill Recreation Center, 2600 Golf Course Drive. The location will remain open until 9 p.m. Monday evening.
It was a lot: It may go down as the 4th wettest day in San Diego’s recorded history.
For updates on the storm, road closures, shelter information and more visit https://www.sandiego.gov/storm.
The Del Mar Train Tunnel’s Biggest Opponent
Del Mar Councilmember Dan Quirk isn’t afraid to be an outlier.
He’s the only person on the council who doesn’t support the plan to move a portion of the train tracks in Del Mar into an underground train tunnel. In fact, he doesn’t think San Diego’s train system should continue operating.
Quirk has taken issue with the $4 billion price tag that the train tunnel comes with, as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars spent every year on rail repairs and other maintenance that the region’s rail system has required.
That’s because of the train’s declining ridership numbers over the past few years, which Quirk says, does not justify the costs of keeping the rail line operating. He’s specifically talking about a portion of the rail line that stretches from San Diego to just south of San Juan Capistrano.
It’s not a popular opinion: Most of the region’s elected officials and transportation leaders believe the train system is vital to the county’s residents, and most agree that the tunnel project has to move forward.
So, it comes as no surprise that Quirk’s opinions have landed him in some hot water with his colleagues and made him the dissenting voice on one of the region’s most anticipated projects of this decade.
Colleagues of Murdered Tijuana Journalists Are Still Waiting for Justice
In 2022, two Tijuana journalists were murdered outside their homes. Their deaths shocked their colleagues, and two years later they are still waiting for justice.
Last week, Voice contributor Sandra Dibble attended an anniversary Mass for freelance photographer Margarito Martínez. He was murdered on Jan. 17, 2022, as he left his house to go to work. His 16-year-old daughter found his body outside. Journalist Lourdes Maldonado was killed a week later.
What’s happened since: Police arrested six hitmen involved in both murders and convicted five. But authorities have yet to file charges against the individuals who ordered the killings.
Tijuana journalists and press freedom advocates say Mexico’s slow-moving justice system creates a dangerous environment for journalists. Martínez’s colleagues want Tijuana’s authorities to do more — and fast.
In Other News
- San Diego Port President and CEO Joe Stuyvesant has resigned, the agency announced Monday. The news comes more than six months after the Port of San Diego unexpectedly placed Stuyvesant on administrative leave. (Union-Tribune)
- At least 30 residents and four staff members at one of San Diego’s safe sleeping sites called O Lot are experiencing abdominal illness. City and county officials are still investigating what the illness is and what is causing it. (KPBS)
- The historic, week-long strike by the faculty of the California State University system started Monday, resulting in canceled classes across San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos. (Union-Tribune)
- The San Diego City Council will consider sweeping changes to its surveillance technology ordinance later today. The proposal, put forward by Mayor Todd Gloria, would loosen some of the regulations put in place by the city’s surveillance technology ordinance passed in 2022, and privacy rights advocates aren’t on board. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.