The city of East Palo Alto is declaring a local emergency.
The cash strapped city is hoping the proclamation will help free up state funding to pay for storm damage.
In December the San Francisquito Creek reached record levels.
It poured over a levee and flooded homes.
All that rushing water left a trail of infrastructure damage as well.
The city says it needs nearly $3 million for flood control projects and repairs.
Paris Sims house filled with nine inches of muddy water December 23rd.
Local
She agrees fixing the problem areas is an emergency saying, "Fix the levee, it needs to be fixed, people's lives are in jeopardy."
The city hopes to build a new wall where the creek jumped the levee.
The project probably won't begin until after the rainy season.
In the meantime city leaders say they plan to build up a new line of sandbags.
Just in case the San Francisquito Creek rises again.