For the second time in less than two weeks, a Pacific storm super-charged by moisture from the subtropics drenched San Diego County on Thursday, creating runoff in areas that recently flooded, snarling traffic on freeways and prompting at least one rescue.
Nothing like the ferocious downpour that sent floodwaters roaring through hundreds of homes and businesses on Jan. 22 materialized. The region — still recovering from last week’s torrential storm — breathed a sigh of relief.
Thursday’s blustery system arrived early, buffeting stretches of coastline with 35 to 40 mph winds throughout the morning — gusts strong enough to take out a few trees. Winds swept the most serious rain into North County, and a flood advisory went into effect for several hours.
While the Palomar Observatory logged 3 inches of rain, most places saw an inch or so, if that. The San Diego International Airport received about 0.73 inch of rain. During last week’s historic storm, San Diego saw 2.73 inches — nearly an inch more than the city typically sees during the entire month of January.
Meteorologists said Friday to expect scattered showers, like the ones seen late Thursday, as the system moves away from the region.
Still, this storm packed its own punch.
On-ramps on state Routes 76 and 78 flooded, as did about 30 roads across San Diego.
A lifeguard swift-water crew rescued two people from the banks of swollen Chollas Creek about 11:15 a.m., a San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson said. It’s not clear how they ended up stuck there. Neither needed medical aid, and it was the only water rescue reported in the city as of 5 p.m.
The weather service issued a flood advisory for a large part of San Diego County for several hours, and thunderstorms were reported.
More than 1,600 customers lost power for several hours around 11:30 a.m. in communities including Nestor, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. San Diego Gas & Electric said the cause of the outage was equipment that needed to be repaired but did not specifically say if it was storm-related. An outage at the Costco on Broadway in Chula Vista prompted the store to close for two hours.
Before the storm, the city of San Diego issued evacuation warnings to a handful of communities in flood-prone areas. No evacuations were ordered, and city officials said the warnings would likely be lifted Friday morning.
No storm-related injuries or deaths were reported.
Last week’s flooding likely contributed to three fatalities — Harold Hooker, 67, who died in a traffic crash, and two people — a man and a woman — whose bodies were found in Santee.
On Thursday, the Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man found in Santee as Manuel Andres Perez, 48. The investigation remains underway, and his cause of death is pending. The agency did not say precisely where the bodies were found. She remains unidentified, and the Medical Examiner’s Office said it will soon release a sketch of her in hopes of learning her name.
Since last week, officials and community groups have been working overtime to stack sandbags and clear storm channels, drains and roadways in preparation for Thursday’s storm. Although Mother Nature gave the region a serious leg up by dropping a lot less rain, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other local leaders applauded communities for those efforts at a Thursday news conference.
“I want to start by saying how grateful I am to the public and to our city team for the preparations that were made in advance of today’s storm,” Gloria said.
Officials said San Diego’s public works dispatch system fielded 390 calls Thursday — down from more than 1,000 made on Jan. 22. And only 75 were emergencies, compared to the more than 400 emergency calls that came in last week.
“The volume of calls and the nature of the calls is a direct reflection of the lower intensity rain and the lower rainfall totals,” said Bethany Bezak, director of the city’s transportation department.
Loading sandbags in Southcrest neighborhoodSome residents questioned how they may have fared had the city’s sweeping preparations occurred before last week’s flooding.
As the rain subsided in Southcrest on Thursday afternoon, people began emerging from their homes on Beta Street, one of the roads hardest hit by the storm on Jan. 22. Children played on a rope swing attached to a tree in their front yard. A man walked his dog down Southcrest Trail. And families resumed cleaning the muck out of their homes.
Tanya and Ricardo Tilman stood on their front porch, watching as trucks ed every so often.
“Where were they last week?” Ricardo asked. “It feels phony having so many city people here now when they pretty much left us here to drown last week.”
The Tilmans have been staying in a hotel as they work to repair their flood-damaged home but had returned to Beta Street Thursday to ensure they could document any further damage.
“I wanted to be here to see the difference having clear storm drains made,” Tanya said. The nearby street barely flooded.
A temporary shelter was set up Wednesday night at the Municipal Gymnasium in Balboa Park to house families forced to evacuate after last week’s storm, and it will remain open, officials said.
The shelter, run by the Red Cross and the Humane Society, was serving more than 90 people Thursday evening, at least a dozen of whom evacuated their homes ahead of Thursday’s storm. But most were people who have needed a place to stay since the Jan. 22 storm. They had been sheltering at Lincoln High School, but that site was closed and they were bused Thursday to Balboa.
Residents needing transportation to the temporary shelter could be taken by school buses or can access no-cost rides from United Taxi Workers. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gloria said buses would pick up residents from the Encanto Recreation Center, the Mountain View/Beckwourth Library and the College-Rolando Library. The last pickup Thursday was 6 p.m., and more busing is planned for Friday.
Residents also may request rides to Balboa Park from their pickup location by calling (619) 280-4444 or by ing the Ride United (enger) app on their smartphones.
The shelter will provide food and temporary shelter for displaced pets and is staffed 24 hours a day.
It’s a resource many were grateful for Thursday.
Patricia Colman Casillas, a Southcrest resident, said she awoke the morning of last week’s storm to the sound of one of her dogs, a chihuahua named Russell, splashing in a foot of water. By the time she left her apartment, there was 4 feet of water outside her door.
“How did I survive that?” she asked. Colman Casillas has been at the shelter since Tuesday and praised the Red Cross for their efforts. “It feels great to be seen,” she said.
City and county officials are also working on more long-term housing assistance for people displaced by last week’s storm. So far, 37 families have been put up in hotel rooms, and another 10 are set to move into rooms. All are getting help from San Diego Food Bank, as well. Another 62 families were connected with resources, and the San Diego Housing Commission, working with community-based organizations, is triaging the needs of more than 200 other families.
Although Thursday’s storm wasn’t as catastrophic as last week’s deluge, city officials said now’s not the time to let up.
A flood watch will remain in effect throughout San Diego County through 10 a.m. Friday, and a new storm is on the way. The slow-moving system is expected to drift ashore late Sunday and early Monday, dropping torrential rain in some areas for at least two days.
Sandbags are still being doled out — up to 10 bags per household or business, and distribution sites can be found in each San Diego City Council district. Locations are listed at sandiego.gov/storm. That website also includes the list of road closures, maps of flood-prone areas and more, including information for people affected by the storm.
Staff writers Emily Alvarenga, Teri Figueroa, Caleb Lunetta, Lauren Mapp, Rob Nikolewski and Roxana Popescu contributed to this report.
