Monday, the San Diego area got an unusually heavy rainstorm and flash flooding. This shut down highways and flooded roads, and some people were left useless as water swept away their cars or damaged their houses.
The heavy rain caught many people by surprise; the National Weather Service says it rained up to three inches in three hours. The office said that by early afternoon, the San Diego River was busy flooding and the water levels were still going up.
As news of the damage spread, San Diego’s mayor, Todd Gloria, announced a state of emergency and told people not to drive unless they had to. Mr. Gloria said that the city was working with state, county, and federal agencies to make sure that there was a full reaction. People who had to leave their homes were told to go to an emergency center set up by the American Red Cross.
In an area that got more rain on Monday than it did during the very scary Tropical Storm Hilary last August, officials had to answer a lot of calls for help.
Daniel Adams, a scientist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, said, “This looks like it will be one of the ten wettest days for this airport in all of our records that go back to the 1800s.” “Yes, it’s been a day.”
The Mountain View neighborhood in San Diego was hit especially hard. Many people spent the day trying to sweep water out of their garages, which didn’t seem as pointless as cleaning up the mud that had gotten into their homes. Based on the brown lines on the outside walls of homes, the water must have been several feet high. Inside, the rugs were covered in a thick sludge.
Lara Lockwood, 43, was watching the scene outside the house she has lived in for eight years with worry. “The whole house is, like, under mud,” she said. The garden table was thrown in front of her car. The yard turned into a swamp that couldn’t be crossed. The fence made of wood was broken. Bagheera, her cat, was also gone.
An artist named Ms. Lockwood said, “I wasn’t expecting anything like this.” She was going to skip work for a few days. “It’s too much. I have no idea how to begin.