Residents unite to help after ‘wall of water’ blasts through Los Osos neighborhood
When Kay Blaney’s power went out on Jan. 9, she settled down for a quiet afternoon to read a book by the window.
Her plans changed in an instant, however, when a flash flood barreled through her Los Osos neighborhood.
“It was so rough out on Vista Court — it was a river,” Blaney said. “And yeah, I was a little scared.”
Floodwaters tore through Los Osos at about 4:45 p.m. Jan. 9, damaging 15 homes on Vista Court and five others on Montana Road, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Paul Provence.
Provence said “a large wall of water” raced down the street, carrying debris like lawn chairs and barbecues with it. No one was injured in the flood, he said.
One was particularly hard-hit, with mud and water blasting through the front door and filling the home up to three feet high on the walls.
The sudden catastrophe elicited a call for help throughout the community, and residents from Los Osos and beyond immediately showed up to help, with shovels and pizza in hand.
Water detention basin failed
Los Osos received 4.5 inches of rain in the 48 hours from Jan. 8 through 10, but it wasn’t rain falling on the neighborhood that was the source of the flash flood.
On the hill above, a water detention basin owned by the Los Osos Community Services District failed during the storm on Jan. 9, unleashing the floodwaters on Vista Court, according to CSD General Manager Ron Munds.
The CSD inspected the pond on Jan. 9 and didn’t find problems, Munds said.
“Everything seemed to be going fine. It was doing what it supposed to do,” Munds said.
But between 4 and 4:30 p.m. a wall of the basin collapsed and its water flooded the neighborhood below. The CSD is investigating the cause of break, Munds said.
The basin, built during the 1970s, was not yet full when it collapsed, according to Munds.
Munds said the CSD would start construction on a “temporary fix” for the basin on Jan. 11, with plans to complete it by Jan. 12. Construction for a permanent fix of the basin should start after the weekend storm, Munds said.
The CSD may not be liable for flood damage because flooding during a storm is considered a natural disaster, Munds said. The organization is in touch with the county, insurance agents and lawyers to evaluate how to resolve the situation, he said.
“We want what is best for the residents,” Munds said. “Our main concern right now is recovery. It’s probably the worst natural disaster that the community of Los Osos has seen.”
The CSD and County Office of Emergency Services will be in touch with residents about how to file a complaint related to the flooding, he said.
‘The whole house is done’
Some houses sustained more damage than others.
San Luis Obispo resident Manya Choboian’s brother owns a vacation home at the end of Vista Court, and his house was the hardest hit by the flood.
Floodwaters tore the front door off of its hinges and thrust it into the hallway, then knocked the refrigerator onto its side and ripped a bedroom door in half.
Choboian’s boots squelched in mud as she walked through the house, passing mud-stained walls and piles of soiled furniture.
“This is devastation,” Choboian said. “Look at all this. The whole house is done.”
Choboian’s brother and his wife live in the Central Valley and were out of town during the storm. They purchased the home as a vacation spot about six months ago, and Choboian wasn’t sure if they had flood insurance.
“It just makes me sad,” Choboian said. “This was a cute little house. She was so happy to have a coast home.”
Water came right up to the porch
Other residents of Vista Court were more fortunate.
Blaney, 85, watched a torrent of muddy water spill into her yard at about 4:45 p.m. Jan. 9, covering the bushes and flooding her garage with an inch and a half of water, she said.
But the inside of her home was untouched.
“It was a miracle it didn’t come in the house,” Blaney said. “It came right up to that porch and to the top step in the garage. It was like God saying, ‘Here you go, honey. L’chaim!’ ”
Police officers evacuated Blaney and her neighbors at sunset after the flood, so she stayed at her friend’s house for the night, she said.
“I was thinking things were dull around here,” Blaney said with a chuckle. “It was really an adventure.”
When Blaney returned home on Jan. 10, she found a team of neighbors cleaning up Vista Court — including her front yard. She knew some of them, but others were strangers, she said.
“It was incredible how they all came out,” Blaney said. “That’s nice, isn’t it? That people really want to help.”
Los Osos resident Bruce Hendry joined the cleanup effort with his son, Sawyer, and rain splashed on the pair as they shoveled mud out of Blaney’s driveway.
“Everybody just picked up a shovel and started helping,” Hendry said. “We don’t have a lot of crises out here, but when we do, we help each other.”
Los Osos residents show up with shovels and pizza
Neighbors posted about flood damage on the Facebook page Support Los Osos, which was founded by locals Tarrah Graves, Annette Sheely and Quinn Brady.
After seeing the post, Brady visited Vista Court to see how she could help.
When she saw the extent of the damage, Brady posted on the Support Los Osos Facebook page that the Vista Court cleanup needed extra help.
About 100 people from as far away as Atascadero showed up throughout the day with shovels and pizza to support the neighborhood, she said.
“Just seeing the camaraderie and community spirit is really heartening,” Brady said. “We also really need governmental support and funding, FEMA relief funding and county relief funding to help people get through this.”
In order for the county to qualify for emergency funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the county must collect a certain number of reports from residents about storm damage to their property, according to Brady.
County residents can file a report about damage to their homes at readyslo.org, Brady said.
About 55 Cal Fire personnel joined the cleanup effort, along with officers from the South Bay Fire Station, according to Cal Fire Public Information Officer Toni Davis.
The group emptied the houses of mud and furniture then tore out soiled carpets, but other damage remains — such as mud stains on the walls, Brady said.
“This is just step one of a many-step process,” Brady said. “There’s a lot of work still to be done.”
Los Osos resident Heather Saiki joined the Vista Court cleanup efforts with her four children: Cory, 5, Reuben, 9, Everett, 7, and Philip, 2. The kids all got shovels for Christmas and brought them to help clean up Vista Court.
“They love digging so I thought we could come help,” Saiki said.
Saiki heard about the Vista Court cleanup from her pastor, and wanted to lend a hand.
“It’s a bigger thing then one person can handle,” Saiki said. “We need each other.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 11:43 AM.
