A year later, Acampo residents are still cleaning up from flooding
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Updated: 8:57 PM PST Jan 4, 2024
A YEAR LATER. THE ARBOR MOBILE HOME PARK IN ACAMPO IS DRY TODAY. THE STREETS ARE CLEAR. A FAR DIFFERENT SCENE FROM A YEAR AGO. IT WAS JUST LIKE LIKE A LAKE. IT WAS A LAKE. MELISSA UDALL STILL CAN’T BELIEVE HOW FAST THE WATER CAME UP. OH, IT WAS IT WAS HORRIBLE. THE HEAVY RAIN COMBINED WITH A FAILED PUMP SYSTEM CREATED A HUGE MESS. AND I LOOKED OUT HERE AND WHERE THAT STREET POPS OUT RIGHT THERE, THE WATER WAS LITERALLY PUSHING LIKE A RIVER AND GOING DOWN THAT WAY WHEN IT RAINS, IT GOES THAT WAY. SO THAT’S WHAT I WAS LIKE. UH, THIS DOESN’T LOOK TOO GOOD WITH THE STREETS OVERFLOWING, RESCUE CREWS WERE FORCED TO BRING HEAVY MACHINERY IN TO GET EVERYONE OUT. THE POWER WAS ALREADY CUT. AN ARMY TRUCK WENT BY AND I WAS LIKE, GIVE ME TEN MINUTES. COME GET ME. AS QUICKLY AS THE WATER ROSE, IT TOOK FIVE TIMES LONGER FOR IT TO GO DOWN, AND BY THAT TIME THE DAMAGE WAS DONE. WE HAD TO REPLACE EVERYTHING DOWN HERE. IT’S STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REPLACED, AND I WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE TO GET MY FEMA MONEY. UDALL WAS ONE OF THE LUCKIER ONES IN THE STORM. I THINK ONE ONE OF THE HOUSES UP THERE, UM, I DON’T THINK SO MANY. THEY STILL AREN’T LIVING IN THAT HOUSE. UM, BUT IT WAS REALLY BAD OVER THERE. HOMES THAT STILL NEED TO BE REPAIRED. THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR THE SENSE OF SECURITY. WE DEFINITELY KEEP AN EYE ON IT A LOT, A LOT MORE BEING OUT HERE. ESPECIALLY FOR HER. IT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THAT, WHEN YOU GO THROUGH IT, IT CHANGES YOU AND YOU. YOU PLAN AHEAD. YOU KNOW? SO WHEN IT STARTED RAINING, THE OTHER DAY, I WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, STARTING TO GET, UH, ANXIETY. JASON MARKS KCRA 3 NEWS IS THE SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT SAYS THE NEARLY $2.5 MILLION PUMP AND DRAINAGE SYSTEM AROUND THE MOBILE HOME PARK WAS INSTALLED IN 2019. IT WAS PAID FOR WITH FEDERAL FUNDS. SINCE THEN, THE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT HAS LOOKED AT PLANS TO MAKE SURE THE PUMP DOESN’T FAIL AGAIN. OUR STORM READY 2024 COVERAGE CONTINUES TOMORROW. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST MARK FINAN WILL MAP OUT THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO FLOOD IN OUR REGIO
A year later, Acampo residents are still cleaning up from flooding
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Updated: 8:57 PM PST Jan 4, 2024
This January, the Arbor Mobile Home Park in Acampo is dry. The streets are clear. It's a far different scene than a year ago."It was just like a lake,” resident Melissa Youdall recalled of her San Joaquin County community being inundated by floodwaters in January 2023.Youdall still can't believe how fast the water came up."It was horrible," she said.Heavy rain, combined with a failed pump system, created a mess. Water filled the streets and forced residents out of their homes for days. Rescue crews came in boats to get residents to safety."The power was already cut and an Army truck went by and I was like give 10 minutes and come get me," Youdall said.As quickly as the water rose, it took much longer to go down. Several homes in the neighborhood were damaged. "We had to replace everything down here,” Youdall said while pointing at the siding on the bottom of her home. “It's still in the process of being replaced and I was probably one of the last people to get FEMA money.” One home near the entrance of the complex is still unlivable today. That was where the water was deepest.Youdall said her life has gotten back to normal, but there is still a fear that it could happen again."When it started raining the other day, I started to get anxiety," she said. This story is part of our five-part series, Storm Ready 2024. We've also heard from agencies including SMUD and emergency officials with the city of Sacramento about the scope of the storm and how they’re changing their emergency planning and response due to the January 2023 storms.
This January, the Arbor Mobile Home Park in Acampo is dry. The streets are clear. It's a far different scene than a year ago.
"It was just like a lake,” resident Melissa Youdall recalled of her San Joaquin County community being inundated by floodwaters in January 2023.
Youdall still can't believe how fast the water came up.
"It was horrible," she said.
Heavy rain, combined with a failed pump system, created a mess. Water filled the streets and forced residents out of their homes for days. Rescue crews came in boats to get residents to safety.
"The power was already cut and an Army truck went by and I was like give 10 minutes and come get me," Youdall said.
As quickly as the water rose, it took much longer to go down. Several homes in the neighborhood were damaged.
"We had to replace everything down here,” Youdall said while pointing at the siding on the bottom of her home. “It's still in the process of being replaced and I was probably one of the last people to get FEMA money.”
One home near the entrance of the complex is still unlivable today. That was where the water was deepest.
Youdall said her life has gotten back to normal, but there is still a fear that it could happen again.
"When it started raining the other day, I started to get anxiety," she said.
This story is part of our five-part series, Storm Ready 2024. We've also heard from agencies including SMUD and emergency officials with the city of Sacramento about the scope of the storm and how they’re changing their emergency planning and response due to the January 2023 storms.
