It’s been 10 weeks since Susana Hurtado sat on the roof of her Southcrest home with her granddaughters awaiting rescue, as water from historic storms rose, turning her street into a fast-moving river.
Since Jan. 22, her family has awaited help as they work to recover from the disaster that destroyed their home, as county and federal partners struggle to communicate with one another — and with her and other victims like Hurtado desperate for information.
Now, she’s at risk of losing her place in a county hotel voucher program that’s been giving her family a temporary roof over their heads because of what she says has been lackluster communication from the county and its partners.
The program provides flood victims short-term lodging at local hotels, and although supervisors extended the program into May, not everyone can stay that long.
So on Tuesday, teams of county staff were sent to hotels to notify nearly half of the 821 households now participating that they will soon lose their eligibility unless they rectify the situation within a week.
Most of the eligibility concerns hinge on whether participants have provided proof that they’ve ed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal assistance.
As of Tuesday, 6,685 individuals had ed for FEMA aid, 2,381 had been approved to get it and nearly $18.3 million had been paid out, FEMA officials said. But 377 households participating in the county’s lodging program had not yet applied.
The county and its city partners have been calling participants since Thursday to encourage them to apply as soon as possible. At least 38 had since ed for FEMA, but as of Tuesday the county has still been unable to reach 169 households.
Those storm victims will be dropped from the county program unless they can show that their home was affected by the January flooding or that they have ed for FEMA aid, met the county program’s code of conduct or filed a homeowners or renters insurance claim if they have coverage.
Hurtado said she’s been trying to work with the county’s contractor, Equus Workforce Solutions, to provide proof of residence. She said she ran into problems when they asked her for a utility bill, which she couldn’t provide because she’d disconnected her utilities, and they wouldn’t accept an ID instead.
Maria Torres also has had trouble.
Torres is staying at the Ramada in National City with her son and husband after their home on Birch Street in Southcrest flooded. She says she didn’t apply for FEMA aid because her landlord applied and was rejected.
Instead, Equus asked her to submit a letter from her landlord confirming she lived at the flooded home and had paid rent, as well as proof of her husband’s car insurance.
Even after she submitted those documents on March 24, Torres says she received numerous calls over the weekend telling her they were missing.
“Yesterday, when Equus (representatives) came to the Ramada, I went to talk to them,” Torres said in Spanish. “They said, ‘That’s not us. We don’t know who is calling.’”
Ultimately, she learned that Equus hadn’t put the documents she’d given them in the system. “That’s not my problem,” she said. “I gave them what they needed.”
Torres’ home is now repaired and ready to be moved into, but she’s still saving up to buy new appliances and furniture and hopes to stay in the county lodging program as long as possible. She had yet to receive a notice as of Tuesday evening.
These are just a few of the concerns flood victims have shared with the county in recent weeks.
On Monday night at a weekly community meeting of the San Diego Disaster Relief Collaborative, Hurtado and others asked county officials why they weren’t told sooner that they had to with FEMA.
“If you guys knew this was gonna happen, that we were missing things — how come you guys didn’t say it before, so we can be ready, and not wait seven days until we were getting kicked out?” Hurtado asked. “It’s ridiculous.”
Gerardo Hernandez, a Southcrest resident who has been staying at the Ramada for the last month and a half with his 23-year-old son, said he has repeatedly gone to the disaster recovery centers — and every time is given different information.
County staff acknowledged the disconnect and said they’d been working to address some of the misunderstandings — including people’s worries that applying for FEMA might make them ineligible for county lodging. It does not.
“We’ve been trying to make sure we get the message out as consistently as possible,” said Patty Kay Danon, chief operations officer of the county Health & Human Services Agency. “It has not been a simple process. I think everyone has been learning as we go along.”
That’s why the county had been ing each household individually.
“We’re aware of the trauma that our families are facing and want to do the best we can to not continue to disturb and cause more harm,” said Janie Regier, an equity impact manager in the county’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice who was temporarily reassigned to the county’s flood recovery efforts.
But even those calls are concerning to some residents, who worry about giving out their FEMA registration number to possible scammers.
“Put yourselves in our shoes right now, what we’re going through,” Hernandez said. “We did not put ourselves in this situation.”
Although he’s been approved for FEMA aid, he’s still using the county lodging program — he can’t find another home he can afford. “I’m on Section 8, I’m having trouble finding a place,” he said.
Shelltown resident Clariza Marin, who runs a weekly community meeting just for residents, says many others in the community are facing the same problem — and the prospect of having to leave their neighborhoods. Many landlords, she said, have evicted tenants rather than let them return after their homes have been rebuilt.
“They’re being threatened to be thrown out of their hotel, and they’re being told there’s no solution or option for them in their neighborhoods,” Marin said. “We’re going around door-to-door right now, trying to figure out how to save our community, because the community is dead. If you go down Beta (Street), it’s a ghost town. … So for us, we’re desperate.”
Danon explained that FEMA’s program will provide long-term , while the county’s, created as a temporary bridge program, will end next month.
As soon as participants prove they’ve ed with FEMA, the county will halt the process of dropping them from the program, Regier said.
All participants should expect to receive letters, in English and Spanish, to let them know when the program will end for them based on their specific circumstances.
Participants whose homes FEMA has declared safe to move back into will be dropped from the program in 14 days, while those still trying to find a new home with FEMA aid may stay until the program ends May 11.
People affected by the storms can with FEMA for federal assistance through April 19. People with aid eligibility questions should call (858) 715-2255 as soon as possible. Our guide details what applicants should know.
Flood victims can also meet with FEMA in person at the disaster recovery centers at the Mountain View Community Center and Spring Valley Library from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Residents can also apply for federal help online at DisasterAssistance.gov, use the FEMA mobile app or call the FEMA Helpline at (800) 621-3362 daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
To learn more about other available resources, visit AlertSanDiego.org/Recovery or bit.ly/d4flood.
