The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors declared an extended state of emergency on Tuesday because of flooding damage that occurred in Oceano Dec. 19. A rainstorm during that week brought 7.1 inches of rain to Oceano and caused hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage water from South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District to flood the surrounding neighborhood with unsanitary, dirty water.
Residents speculate that the flooding could have been prevented.
On Dec. 19 when the neighborhood began to flood, resident Rocky Luellen noticed a rapid rise in the water level from about 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. He wondered why the water was rising so quickly, then realized it was water from the sewage plant next to his home causing the rise. Flap gates that are supposed to open automatically to allow water from the sewage district to drain into the ocean did not open due to high tides.
Water flooded into some residents’ homes up to the baseboards.
“If they would have opened it, we wouldn’t have had to evacuate,” Luellen said. He and his neighbr, Victor Mireles, said the county could have manually opened the flood gates to let the water run out to the ocean.
Another neighbor, Pam Cobb, saw a manhole across from her home explode and spew up out of the sewer. She said she was up past her knees in sewer water when she left her home.
The sanitation conditions and flood level in the neighborhood caused residents to be evacuated. Firemen said they wouldn’t carry him out, Luellen said jokingly, so he had to walk through the mucky water when asked to leave.
The San Luis Obispo County Red Cross Chapter helped more than 25 families by providing them with food and shelter at Arroyo Grande High School from Dec. 19 to 23. After that, residents were expected to return home or find housing with friends or family.
Mireles, a resident on Honolulu Avenue who lives about 100 feet from the entrance of the South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District, spent a few nights at the shelter. Since none of his close relatives were close by when the shelter closed, Mireles had to spend nights sleeping in his car. On days he does not have work, Mireles spends time at Luellen’s home because Mireles’ home is still out of commission.
“Red Cross helped out, but not for long enough,” Luellen said.
Though the neighborhood looks fine on the surface, many of the residents are still dealing with the damage this flood has caused to their homes. Mireles said one neighbor has left entirely and others are staying with friends and family until their homes are fixed.
Penny Villalba, the property owner of Mireles’ home, had the carpets stripped from his home. The inside of Villalba’s properties are bare. All of the furniture has been removed; the only thing remaining in the houses are fans, still drying out the moisture left by the flood.
“There’s no reason for this,” Villalba said. “Our renters don’t have any money. This was not big enough to qualify for assistance.”
While flooding does occur around the sea-level neighborhood and most residents have flooding insurance, the residents have not experienced a flood of this caliber. Insurance companies will cover the damage done to the property but will not cover personal items such as furniture. Many of the residents will have to replace damaged items out of pocket.
“We feel like this is a human error,” Luellen said. “We think they (the person responsible) need to be reprimanded. We just feel like we need help.”
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors could not be reached in time for publication.