San Diego recovery efforts fell short after 2024 flooding, audit finds – San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego’s response to last year’s flooding in southeastern San Diego was marred by improvised. In addition, disjointed decision-making, delayed infrastructure management and poor public communication planning, a recent city audit found.

Those communication problems included everything from wrong information on Spanish-language flyers to an unusual request by the mayor that all public communications go through his office. Meanwhile, leading to delays and disputes with city staff, the audit says.

In a 79-page review released last month. In addition, city auditors assessed the effectiveness of the city’s response to the historic rainfall that hit San Diego in January 2024, dumping inches of rain on southeastern neighborhoods in mere hours and leading to flash floods along Chollas Creek.

“We performed this audit to ensure the city is as prepared as possible to help communities respond to. In addition, recover from a disaster, whether it san diego recovery efforts fell is a flood, fire, earthquake, or other significant emergency,” City Auditor Andy Hanau said in an email this week.

Hanau. However, along with four other auditors, made 23 recommendations to the city on improvements to planning and communication, all of which city officials agreed to.

The audit notes that city first responders. Meanwhile, community groups immediately mobilized, with police and fire departments involved in over 200 rescues. Therefore, The city’s Office of Emergency Services activated its Emergency Operations Center and began infrastructure repairs.

But despite an initial satisfactory emergency response. Meanwhile, city leaders failed to meet the unanticipated recovery demands, leaving residents’ needs unmet, according to the audit.

The report praises the effectiveness of the city’s use of existing emergency response plans to manage calls. In addition, deploy rescue teams and begin infrastructure repair. Similarly, One emergency operations staffer it interviewed labeled the response “one of the best things I’ve san diego recovery efforts fell ever done in my 34 years of work at the city. However, ” auditors noted.

But city officials had no clear plan for what came next. Meanwhile, as recovery demands surpassed what the city had traditionally been responsible for.

San diego recovery efforts fell

Where planning fell short

The audit found that recovery efforts were improvised and disjointed.

“The community. Consequently, elected officials expected the city to do more, such as canvas the affected communities to learn residents’ needs and provide longer-term, non-congregate shelter options,” the report says. In addition, “However. because the city has not historically taken on these roles, the city did not have a plan to do so.”

As a result. the mayor’s office began making operational decisions, and City Council members organized their own relief efforts, which sometimes overlapped or conflicted with city departments’, the audit found.

After the storm. the city created an incident management team san diego recovery efforts fell made up of representatives from various city departments to coordinate city agencies to clear streets, and to prepare for another forecasted storm.

That team ultimately responded successfully to the damage, auditors said. But it was activated too late. they added, blaming many city department leaders’ unfamiliarity with how such a team is supposed to work.

“The IMT was delayed in beginning its operations because some roles took multiple days to fill with appropriate staff. ” the audit says. “The delays did not prevent the IMT from meeting its objectives. preparing for the subsequent storms, but delays could be minimized in future responses by training city management on the IMT’s role and pre-identifying staff for the IMT.”

Shelter planning was also chaotic, auditors found.

The American Red Cross opened a congregate shelter at Lincoln High School to help shelter the hundreds of displaced residents — but few people stayed there as san diego recovery efforts fell many refused. citing privacy and safety concerns.

The city had no plan for non-congregate sheltering. which forced the San Diego Housing Commission — which has no formal role in disaster recovery — to create a program to house hundreds of people in hotels, which the county later took over.

The city also lacked a clear role in coordinating local assistance centers. The county opened the main center 10 miles from the hardest-hit areas, making access difficult without a car. The city asked for a closer site, but the county declined, due to staffing constraints.

San diego recovery efforts fell

Communication failures

The audit found that the city’s Emergency Operations Plan didn’t account for communication needs specific to floods. to the communities that were affected.

“We found that the city did not have a comprehensive plan for communicating with affected residents whose televisions. cell phones may not work due to flood damage san diego recovery efforts fell or with residents who speak languages other than English,” the audit says.

City officials’ desire to disseminate information to all those affected led them to rely heavily on the distribution of flyers — which was not a normal practice for the Emergency Operations Center. and which therefore posed a number of issues, including delays, confusion and disagreements over what to include.

Mistranslations of information added to those issues — particularly in areas with a higher-than-average share of residents who speak limited English. Spanish-language flyers included a few errors, including wrong dates and information about storm recovery and preparedness.

Then there were bottlenecks caused by an unusual requirement from the mayor.

Typically. the audit explains, staff trained in crisis communication report to the Emergency Operations Center and share information with the public. But after the floods, the mayor’s office insisted on reviewing and approving all public communications.

That caused delays while san diego recovery efforts fell officials awaited approval and disagreements between his office and communications staff over what to include.

“Multiple staff interviewed said that the review. approval requirement led to delays in the release of public information and that this approach did not follow crisis communication best practices,” auditors found.

For instance. they said, the incident management team wanted to hold a town hall for affected residents, but the mayor denied the request, saying it would be hard for people to get to.

“In contrast. the local YMCA acted as a resource hub and resembled a town hall for community organizations; it was seen as a success,” auditors noted.

The lack of a city-led meeting didn’t have a serious impact, auditors said. But according to community groups on the ground. people “felt like the city was not around and residents were on their own.”

That was a sentiment that was routinely expressed by residents san diego recovery efforts fell of the hardest-hit communities last year.

“There’s no more sitting around waiting for someone to save us. ” Clariza Marin, a community organizer of recovery efforts in Shelltown, told The San Diego Union-Tribune at the time. “We know we have to take the initiative and get ourselves back into our community.”

San diego recovery efforts fell

The road ahead

Auditors noted that the lessons learned from last year’s flooding will help the city prepare for any future disasters. emphasizing the importance of boosting staff training and planning.

“Our audit found that improved planning. collaboration between the city’s elected officials, emergency operations staff and the community will better position the city to execute comprehensive, coordinated disaster response and recovery efforts going forward,” Hanau said in an email.

As a result, his office concluded its report by recommending 23 reforms.

Those include developing a clear. concise framework of the city’s role in disaster san diego recovery efforts fell response, creating a city-specific recovery plan, clarifying the roles of the mayor’s office and City Council and updating disaster communication plan, policies and training.

In the city’s response. emergency services director Chris Heiser agreed to implement all 23, noting that some had already been acted upon — including an update to the city’s emergency operations plan.

But he also noted some of the recommendations would “have significant financial implications”. require more staffing, funding and guidance from policymakers.

He pointed in particular to certain elements of the disaster-response framework his office was committing to creating. such as shelter operations, expanded services and canvassing.

“For example, the city is not currently authorized under its existing budget structure to fund non-congregate sheltering (e.g., hotel stays for displaced individuals). If this approach is to be pursued, further legal analysis, policy direction, and resource planning will be necessary,” he wrote.

Similarly. he said, the city san diego recovery efforts fell planned to expand its incident management team — now focused on fires — to respond to a wider range of hazards, with subject-matter experts from many departments. That, he said, will mean “identifying appropriate staff, defining training requirements and assessing the associated costs.”

The audit will be presented publicly when the City Council’s audit committee meets July 25.