First flooding, now a rent increase: Uninsured mobile home residents still reeling from San Diego storm

Paulina Arrellano found herself home alone and quickly surrounded by water as high as 5 feet before firefighters came to her rescue during San Diego County’s “1,000-year storm” last month.

Within hours, Arrellano’s National City neighborhood was drenched by over 4 inches of rain. Stormwater systems across the county were overwhelmed. Floodwaters entered the trailer park where Arrellano lives, ruining the mobile home she bought just a year prior. 

“What we invested in this house, it’s a lot of years of work,” Arrellano said in Spanish. “And what can I tell you in less than two hours it was done.” 

National City was among the hardest-hit areas during the Jan. 22 storms. At the Happy Hollow Trailer Park, flooding severely damaged nearly half of the 90 mobile homes. Many of the homes were not insured. 

Some are attempting to rebuild, with several residents telling inewsource they’re keeping flood-damaged items and choosing to stay put in their homes despite the health risks. And though the county has imposed rules prohibiting evictions and certain rent hikes following the storm, residents at the trailer park face a previously announced rent increase next month. 

Experts have raised concerns about potential gaps in the county’s emergency ordinance. One example: Residents who don’t make needed repairs could be displaced, as landlords have the right to evict those who fail to address code violations once the county moratorium expires, said Gilberto Vera, attorney at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego. 

Officials have discussed further protections in the wake of the storm for renters, who make up the majority of National City residents. But councilmembers shot down a proposal in a split vote last week, with plans to revisit the policy next month after staff gathers more information.

“If landlords want to raise the rents on the tenants coming back from the flood and from their damage, I just want the justification on why,” Councilmember Marcus Bush said during the meeting.

Storm crushes San Diego communities 

Happy Hollow resident Heide Brito, 19, said she never imagined that water could cause such damage. Brito, who can’t swim, and her mother Leticia got into their cars and moved to higher ground as water began to rise to the first step outside their home that morning. 

“Cars were flooded, the houses were flooded, everything was flooded… I saw people in between the water trying to get out of their houses,” Brito said.

National City staff began storm preparations about a week before the storm, checking drains, clearing culverts and removing homeless encampments near embankments, Mayor Ron Morrison told inewsource. 

But officials anticipated less than an inch of rain based on weather reports. It wasn’t until the day of the storm that officials understood its immensity, he said.

“It wasn’t blocked storm drains, it was just the water once it got in the storm drains had no place to go,” Morrison said, adding the infrastructure is set to handle conditions only a certain percentage above what’s considered a normal amount of water.

About 40 businesses and 170 National City households were impacted by the storm. The police department received more than 350 calls for service during the storm — three times more than normal.

In a letter earlier this month requesting federal assistance, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the city “primarily experienced the impact of flooding in low-income apartment complexes, housing underserved and predominantly Spanish speaking communities, with minimal to no flood insurance coverage.” In addition to Happy Hollow, a nearby apartment complex also sustained severe damage, with 22 units deemed uninhabitable.

The county received reports that more than 800 properties in the county have been marked as damaged so far. But it’s unknown how many of those involved mobile home residents, as a county spokesperson told inewsource that officials haven’t tracked damage by the type of home.

Because manufactured homes are more susceptible to weather risks and older models often have unregulated building standards, residents often encounter difficulties in getting insurance coverage for their mobile homes.

The city provided impacted residents, including dozens of Happy Hollow households, with temporary hotel accommodations following the storm. But some Happy Hollow residents continued to stay in their home and live among the water damage.

“It can put your health at risk to sleep in a place like this,” Brito said, who said her family plans on keeping their water-damaged couch because they have no other place to sit. 

Some residents like Arrellano also had their car damaged during the flood. But she only had liability insurance on it, and is now without a working car. 

That means Arrellano is unable to make her once daily visits to her 29-year-old son, who has brain damage, is non-verbal and lives in a La Mesa nursing home. 

Material things may come and go, she said, but not being able to tend to her son is especially difficult. Arrellano said she hopes to have some money left over to buy a used car after making repairs to her home. 

‘We’re waiting for help’

Maria Pineda said she’s concerned about her home flooding again. Happy Hollow, which sits in a low-lying area with a downhill entrance, also flooded during a 2019 storm.

But Pineda, 48, said the high cost of living in San Diego makes considering another housing option impossible.

Now, Happy Hollow residents — who typically own the mobile home but rent the land — are expected to soon see costs go up: Rent is increasing by $54 next month.

Herminia Niebla, director of operators for Happy Hollow Mobile Home Park, said residents received notice of the increase prior to the storm, at the end of October. The new monthly total will be $1,135, she said.

Pineda said her rent four years ago was $750. She and others told inewsource they didn’t think an increase should be happening in the wake of the storm, as residents were burdened by the repair costs.

“We’re waiting for help,” Pineda said. 

But the county’s emergency ordinance states that it does not apply to any rent increase from taking effect if tenants received notice prior to the January storm.

Niebla said ownership met with residents after to provide information about resources and address concerns among some tenants that felt storm drains in the park were not clean when the flood happened. Those impacted by the storm received a roughly $400 credit off their February rent, she said.

She also said the drains were clean, but trash, shoes, papers and more ended up covering them, causing the flooding. 

“We’re at a low level… it was impossible to prevent flooding,” Niebla said, adding that the park is located in a flood zone and that some residents were notified in 2020 after a county survey of the area.  

Policy gaps 

Following the storm, the county Board of Supervisors approved $10 million in emergency assistance, including temporary lodging and waiving some fees associated with the rebuilding process. President Joe Biden has also activated FEMA assistance in San Diego County to open up grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs.

Impacted residents can apply for up to $5,000 in FEMA assistance online for losses, such as appliances, clothing and vehicles, National City officials shared last week.

Under an emergency ordinance, county officials also issued a 60-day moratorium on evictions without just cause and rent increases in 11 of the hardest-hit ZIP codes, including National City.

The ordinance also states a tenant’s right to be relocated to another place by their landlord while repairs are made. But the emergency ordinance doesn’t specify the type of relocation benefits that should be provided nor does it spell out a tenant’s right to return at the same rent, Barry Schultz, National City’s head attorney, said during a public meeting. 

The moratorium is set to expire March 30. 

City officials are now discussing a proposal that would provide further protection. Councilmember Jose Rodriguez has called for an ordinance that would extend the county’s moratorium up to an additional 90 days. Fellow Councilmember Bush backs the proposal. 

“I feel you, I hear you and I’m with you,” Rodriguez told the public during a council meeting earlier this month. “Many of us have been carrying a collective pain.”

But Mayor Morrison and councilmembers Luz Molina and Ditas Yamane said they needed more information to understand the potential impact of the policy, including more details about the number of properties impacted landlords own.

“We don’t want to punish the good landlords,” Molina said. “It’s difficult to find a way to be fair when we don’t have the data.”

Molina pointed to National City’s limited resources, saying officials should not lead residents to believe the policy will be feasible without thinking through where exactly the money will come from.

The council agreed through a unanimous vote to direct the city attorney to bring back policy language, along with more information on options for potential relocation benefits and the right to return at the same rent. 

Councilmembers will discuss the proposal again at their March 5 meeting.