29-05-2025
City of San Diego countersues some 2024 flood victims
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The historic flooding of January 2024 is still top of mind for every resident on Beta Street in Southcrest.
'The whole block was flooded here, the whole street was damaged,' said flood victim Greg Montoya.
Montoya says he was able to keep the receipts for all the times the City of San Diego promised to fix the flooding issues at Chollas Creek dating back to 2012.
'This got flooded by the way, but I was able to salvage it. I'm glad I did,' he said.
Now in a new twist in the ever-growing ballooning legal cases the piled up against the city, the City of San Diego has decided to counter sue some of the plaintiffs who have suffered damage from the floodwaters.
'You expect some of the defendants to blame some of the other defendants, but you would not expect one of the main defendants, the City of San Diego, to turn around and blame one of the victims,' said Evan Walker, an attorney for flood plaintiffs.
Walker says two of his flood victim clients are now facing lawsuits on top of trying to rebuild their lives.
'The message that the city is trying to send here is one of intimidation,' Walker said.
The city attorney's office declined an interview, opting to release this statement:
'The City is responding to over 50 lawsuits involving more than 1,500 plaintiffs due to the January 22, 2024 historic rain event. As part of the approach to these complex legal issues, the City has filed cross-complaints against 11 parties that either have maintenance responsibilities for drainage facilities on their properties or took action on their properties that might have diverted or increased storm water runoff.'
Experts say the damage could be into the hundreds of millions to get back to normal for residents who suffered in the floods.
'2018 there was a report that was done by the city officials that told them you need to address the storm drain problems in the city, and nothing was done,' Montoya said.
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