Several businesses on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles became flooded again Monday following heavy rain.
Among the impacted businesses were a liquor store and a clothing/shoe store as some pricey merchandise was damaged in the flood water.
Video shot by the clothing shop employees showed some goods, including $600 shoes, were damaged in the water.
The shop owner told NBC Los Angeles that she tried to get help from city workers before flooding started, but she wasn’t able to get their attention.
“I went out to get them, and nobody was there,” the woman said. “I was happy they are here, (hoping that) they are going to take care of it, but it seems it’s worse because we depended on them.”
The business owner, who has been running her shops in the area for 40 years, said the city needs to fix the water flow issues because it isn’t the first time businesses in the area got flooded.
“Every time it rains, all of my stores get flooded,” she said.
Another business owner also said he was relieved to see city crews and pump trucks out on the street in the morning, despite the fact they were blocking the area.
“I thought it’s OK. We will sacrifice a little business for the solution. But I pulled up, and there’s a foot of water everywhere, a foot outside the walls and 6 inches inside the store,” Rom Askar, a business owner on Melrose Avenue, said.
The office of Los Angeles Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents the Fairfax District, said it demanded an immediate review from the city’s sanitation department to determine exactly what happened, who was responsible for the breakdown and what corrective actions will be taken right now.
“We expect answers and we expect immediate change. This cannot happen again,” Yaroslavsky’s office said.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to the sanitation department for more details on what went wrong.