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<\/p>\nNational City residents who lost their homes in the 2024 floods are preparing for more rain and raising concerns about National City’s communication.<\/p>\n
NATIONAL CITY, Calif. \u2014 As rain moves into San Diego County, some National City residents are taking extra precautions after experiencing devastating flooding in January 2024. Neighbors who lost their homes and belongings said the storm brings back painful memories, and they want others to be prepared.<\/p>\n
On East Eighth Street, every round of rain brings renewed concern for residents like Sherry Gogue whose homes were flooded in 2024.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy husband and my son were stuck there for two and a half hours, and I watched them,\u201d Gogue said. \u201cI watched everything being destroyed in my front yard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gogue said she and her neighbors lost nearly everything in the flooding.<\/p>\n
“Everything we had was destroyed, and we just remodeled our house by a year before that,” she said. “My mom’s organ-it’s 100 years old. I lost it.”<\/p>\n
The neighbors said a grate over a nearby storm channel contributed to the flooding. The grate has since been removed, but the experience continues to weigh on the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this happened last time, nobody knew what to do,\u201d Gogue said. \u201cI mean, we were all devastated. We were homeless overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, she and her neighbors are urging others to take precautions before more rain arrives.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure your house is flood protected,\u201d Gogue said. \u201cBut if you can get sandbags, do the straw waddle, whatever you can do to protect your home. Try to do that. If you have personal belongings in there, put them up high.\u201d<\/p>\n
National City Councilmember Marcus Bush, who is running for mayor, is also going door to door, raising concerns about how the city is communicating with residents and directing them to resources ahead of the storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we’re not telling people, directing them to resources where to go, if I’m unclear about how to direct our residents and even me as a council member, I’m unclear of what the plan is, what we’re going to do, then there’s a problem,\u201d Bush said.<\/p>\n
National City told News 8 that Public Works crews have been clearing drainage ways for the past three months. A full team also worked the day before and the day of the report to maintain them.<\/p>\n