SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego is drying out Thursday after heavy rain on New Year’s Day triggered widespread flooding and multiple rescues across the county. While the storm system has moved out, the impact is still being felt particularly in Mission Valley, where businesses and residents are now facing cleanup and recovery.

The rain may have stopped, but signs of the flooding remain visible throughout the area. Parking lots, roadways and business complexes that were underwater just a day earlier are now coated in mud and debris as crews assess damage.

By Thursday, the water had receded, revealing rows of damaged vehicles that were fully submerged just hours earlier.

Heavy rain triggers flooding, multiple water rescues across San Diego on New Year’s Day

Among those affected is Joseph Ladon, whose car was submerged during the flooding.

“The most important thing is I was just starting a new job,” Ladon said. “I had my driver’s license, my Social Security card everything inside the car.”

Ladon said he parked his vehicle in Mission Valley on New Year’s Eve, only to wake up the next morning to find it underwater.

Nearby businesses were also hit hard. Some like Spill the Beans coffee were forced to close early in fear of flooding. For others, floodwaters made it into their units, now having to deal with water intrusion, cleanup efforts and lost business during one of the busiest times following the holidays.

“It looks like a total loss,” said Meg Blancato, co-owner of Native Poppy. “It was completely submerged, all the mold and everything that happened.”

Blancato said the flooding problem in Mission Valley has persisted for decades.

“I grew up in San Diego, and I remember this area flooding when I was in high school,” one resident said. “It’s hard to understand how 20 years later this is still an issue, and it’s only getting worse.”

Cleanup efforts are ongoing, and impacted businesses say they plan to reach out to the city to seek long-term solutions to flooding in the area whenever major storms hit.

For now, recovery continues as Mission Valley works to move forward after another destructive storm.

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