City cleans storm drains before the start of the rainy season

On Thursday, the city's sanitation department could be seen in Southcrest removing vegetation, trash and other waste from the storm drain where Beta Street ends.

In January, the same storm channel flooded surrounding homes and destroyed the property of many Southcrest residents.

This same storm channel, which the city calls the Alpha One Channel, is the same one that Southcrest residents told ABC 10News they had been asking the city to clear for years.

The city received more than $8 million in funding for its sewer department to maintain storm drains that were flooding neighborhoods like Southcrest.

After the flooding, the city declared a state of emergency and said it had removed more than 9,800 tons of debris. Since July, another 421 tons of debris and vegetation have been removed, the city said.

Lester Del Rosario, chief civil engineer for the city of San Diego, said, “I think we want to convey to the community as a whole that we plan for maintenance all year round. We do what we can and clear away as much trash, debris and things like that.”

On Thursday, Del Rosario said he and his crew would perform minor maintenance on the Alpha One Channel.

“They use hand tools for what are called invasive species, non-native plant species, and it's all done by hand,” Del Rosario said. “They cut down the trees, remove them and put them in the big machines back here.”

The city said this preparatory work will take place before the rainy season.

ABC 10News spoke to a Southcrest resident who lives a stone's throw from the construction site about storm sewer maintenance.

Lucia Rios' house was flooded in January. Rios said that when she saw the construction site, she still had no certainty that her house would not be destroyed by flooding again.

“The whole thing has to be clean so we're safe,” Rios said. “They need to put more gutters everywhere. What happened to us, what happened in all our neighborhoods, is no joke. This is a nightmare.”

Following the floods in January, the city of San Diego’s stormwater infrastructure came under criticism.

At a mayoral debate hosted by ABC 10News on WEDNESDAY, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said he was aware that work on the sewers needed to continue.

Gloria said, “Working with the Biden-Harris administration, the city has secured over $700 million in repair funds that we will deploy in these communities right now. This will achieve the long-term solutions needed to ensure that if something like this happens again, it won't be as bad.”

ABC 10News anchor Kimberley Hunt asked challenger Larry Turner what he would do to ensure that an incident like the one on January 22 does not happen again.

Turner said, “Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and there has never been an apology. It is only when citizens file suit that the city begins to do the right thing. And unfortunately, it will cost the city a lot more if that happens.”