The last thing two Redwood City mobile home parks wanted was another storm.
Monday’s rain wasn’t as bad as last Thursday’s, but the pumps are on standby just in case. Residents of the mobile home parks are nervous because just a few days ago, the incessant rain caused flooding: as much as four feet of standing water.
They’re just barely cleaning up after that storm when this one came through.
It was a race against time for resident Steve Perfetto, who is trying to pump out the water with his own time and equipment before it gets to flood stage.
But given what happened Thursday though, Perfetto feels his efforts are useless because the canal and creek almost always spill over during major downpours and flood their homes.
“Once that water starts pouring over the edge, that pump isn’t going to do anything. It’s just going to flood again and they’re going to have to have everybody out again,” Perfetto said.
City leaders have known for decades flooding is a problem for these East Bayshore Blvd residences. But because the mobile home parks are low-lying, adjacent to corporate-owned salt ponds and the run-off comes from several hilly cities, a fix has been elusive.
Local
“It just takes a long time to come up with a solution. There’s a lot of different players involved.” said Assistant City Manager Bill Ekern. “There’s no silver bullet solution.”
Residents are starting to believe decades of delays only means the city just wants them out.
“They’re not helping us because they want this property here later,” Perfetto said. “They want to sell it to developers.”
But Ekern denied this.
The city says it recognizes that mobile home parks provide affordable housing and are a valuable asset to the community.
At the same time, leaders acknowledge there can never be 100 percent relief from the floods because of how low the parks sit.
