Newsflash: Laguna Ave floods again

Oops.  Wrong headline. The Daily Journal's headline is "Neighborhood in Burlingame hit with floods".  The piece describes flooding along the "northern stretch of California Drive."

Vera Wilson, who lives nearby, said the water in the street rose as high as 3 feet before emergency workers and city personnel responded. In the wake of the damage, Wilson said she does not know where to turn to recoup the value of lost property.

“I think a class action lawsuit or something might be in the works if [city officials] aren’t going to respond to our concerns,” she said.

But in reality, those with a sense of history of B'game know why Laguna Ave. is named Laguna--it's been flooding since before B'game was incorporated.  And the Historical Society has vintage photos to show the long history of flooding and why some locals kept a canoe handy.  The city knows this and so do the residents

Burlingame Public Works Director Syed Murtuza though noted the residents live in a flood zone and home owners are required to hold insurance policies offering coverage for such an emergency,

“The area itself is a low-lying area so the property owners will have to follow through with the flood insurance protocol,” he said.

So before people go throwing around "class action suit" they might consider the possibility of a reverse class action suit by other B'game residents who are not fond of the idea of paying for something that should be covered by mandatory insurance.

Comments

[Anon]

Compounding the frustration of residents was the seeming ease with which the emergency was addressed during the night of the flood once an official arrived to adjust a nearby city pump, quickly sucking excess water from the area.

You left this part of the article out of your post.

[Joe]

How quickly did the pump work or was it mostly the storm subsiding? Guess we will never know, but you are free to click through to the provided link anytime. Doesn't change the fact that a class action suit is BS.

[Cassandra]

Laguna.
Lagoon.
Dudes, like buying a home on Flood-Plain Circle.

[hillsider]

There were a couple of power outages along the way. Did that have an effect. Where the city guys busy with other flooding. Who knows.

[Linda]

Only one of the four pumps was working and it was never adressed until the level of water was high and intruding in the homes. The pumps work wonderfully WHEN THEY ARE ON. Need staff to monitor. It was city negligence and Syed was withholding information. Just because it is a flood zone does not mean it should not be maintained properly by the city. Many homes were affected not in flood zones. Easy to cast blame on the victims until you are one of them. THat is the narcissistic society we live in unfortunately.

[local motion]

Flooding all over town today. Plugged drain grates. Downed trees. Homeowners who didn't think they needed sand bags and didn't know to only fill them half way. Power lines in the way. Don't confuse narcissism with the lack of old fashion Boy Scout be preparedness. This is going to keep coming all week and is just a tiny preview of when the Big ONe hits. If you are waiting for the city to help you you are scr*^#ed already.

[Bruce Dickinson]

How we have gone from the Sahara desert to the canals of Venice! See Bruce Dickinson's pearls of wisdom on having perspective here:

http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2017/01/opening-the-asian-box.html

[Joe]

Here's the recap of the Council discussion of two nights ago:

With another severe storm slamming the Peninsula, Burlingame officials are seeking preventative measures to hold off more floods similar to those costing residents hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage during the last downpour.

Improving the warning system alerting residents of rapidly rising waters and increasing emergency response staffing during torrential rains are among the potential safety initiatives to be explored, according to video of the City Council meeting Monday, Feb. 6.

The discussion comes in the wake of homes along California Drive getting slammed with flooding Friday, Jan. 20, when pumps in the neighborhood within the flood zone failed, causing water in the street to rise as high as 3 feet and ultimately spilling onto nearby properties.

- See more at: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-02-08/burlingame-seeks-flood-fixes-officials-examine-ways-to-prevent-property-damage-suffered-during-storms/1776425175541.html#sthash.PGJvXnDX.dpuf

[Christopher Cooke]

Unfortunately city owned pumps are going to fail. If you live in a flood zone, you have to prepare for some flooding by using sand bags, installing and maintaining your own pumps, upgrading your yard drainage, and buying flood insurance. It is like living in Oklahoma and preparing for a tornado or in California and preparing for earthquakes. To answer someone's questions, I don't think the city can be held liable for flooding damage incurred by residents in the flood zone. Take measures this morning as another storm is due this morning.

[Joe]

Here is an update on the City response to the flooding:

Burlingame residents needing to fix their homes after suffering flood damage during a recent round of severe rainstorms will be eligible for a little financial relief, under direction from city officials.

The Burlingame City Council unanimously approved, with Emily Beach abstaining, waiving up to $500 in building fees to those seeking structural repair permits following the flooding some suffered in January.

Councilmembers said they believed the initiative would be a largely symbolic means of expressing their solidarity with those who took the biggest hit in the recent downpours, according to video of the Monday, March 6, meeting.

“To me this is a small gesture, and we capped it at $500 to keep it small,” said Mayor Ricardo Ortiz. “It is something saying ‘we feel for your loss and we are trying to make it better.’”

Beach though indicated she did not share the same comfort as her colleagues, claiming she did not have enough information to take a stance on the issue. She did raise questions over whether the effort would meet its mark, since the insurance policy those in the flood zone are required to keep would likely cover the cost of pulling permits to fix storm damage.

“We certainly want to help the residents, the victims that are having trouble with this,” she said. “But is it appropriate for the general fund to be potentially subsidizing the folks that have insurance and would be covered?”

- See more at: http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-03-08/financial-aid-available-for-flood-repairs-burlingame-officials-launch-program-for-residents-slammed-by-rainstorms/1776425176961.html#sthash.YVUOmq7w.dpuf