Residents of two mobile home parks in Redwood City were allowed to return to their homes Saturday after Thursday's storm left it flooded.
Late on Friday, due to possible health and safety risks caused by standing water, officials in Redwood City ordered a mandatory evacuation of two mobile home parks that flooded in Thursday's heavy rains. Redwood City officials had red-tagged homes at the Le Mar Trailer Park and RC Mobile Home Park on Bayshore Road.
Firefighters Thursday helped residents evacuate the area after floodwater rose high enough to reach the living spaces of some homes.
But residents at both parks were allowed to return home Saturday. These mobile home parks are just a few blocks from Highway 101 and Woodside Road.
They were left to deal with the soggy aftermath. One resident said he was booking into a hotel room because it was still a bad situation at his house.
Barbara Tingley’s items outside-and-in her storage locker were damaged in the waters from Thursday’s powerful storm. Her home is OK, but not her car.
"These are all my towels, these are all my boots," she said. "I got towels there, they are soaking wet. I can’t save them."
"The water got in the engine. I don’t have money to get a car."
Mobile home park manager Maria Menchaca said a few families who live at the park were staying in an office on the grounds because they had nowhere else to go. Since they couldn't afford a hotel, they had to wait it out, hoping the water would recede.
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Some residents, like Tingley, said they will have to deal with the financial burden of the damages.
“A lot of these people, they’ve lost a lot of stuff, and they can’t…they don’t have money to repair their things and buy new stuff, so we need to do something, and it needs to be done soon,” Menchaca said.
And some residents were prepared for the inclement weather.
While many trailers or mobile homes were dry, some residents were frustrated. They said the parks have histories of drainage issues, and the area behind them floods during big storms.
“Ten years ago when we flooded, I raised my trailer and I tell everybody when they come in, ‘raise your trailer, raise your trailer because it does flood,’” resident Deborah Crivello said. “And we have to live somewhere.”
A shelter has been established at the College of San Mateo, and the city is coordinating with the Red Cross and the county Office of Emergency Services to provide services for displaced residents.
