Lakeside man fights to save home from flooding without help from county

LAKESIDE (KUSI) — Many people are dealing with local flooding problems, but one man in Lakeside has an even bigger problem. He said he was looking forward to enjoying his new home, but the rain changed all that.

Ken Hughes just bought his house in Lakeside about two weeks ago and since then, he’s spent half the time trying to keep it from being underwater.

He’s using sandbags to keep the rising water from reaching his front door and he said he’s had a couple of close calls already.

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So, he asked around, checking with his new neighbors to see if this has been a problem before and what is found is making him furious.

Neighbors said San Diego County put in a cross-drain a few years ago and that cross-drain directs the rainwater straight toward his property.

Hughes said no one told him.

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And now, the county is demanding he remove the sandbags, which they gave him, so the water can flow naturally.

Of course, if he removes the sandbags, his house will be flooded.

When Hughes asked the county to solve the problem, he said he was told the county has no money in the budget to do so and there won’t be any money to fix his flooding problem for at least three to five more years.

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KUSI News reached out to the County’s Department of Public Works for comment and they released this response:

"This community was built in the 1950s, and when it rains the water naturally flows to the lowest point, which happens to be this area of Lemon Crest Drive. There are no public drainage facilities, like storm drains and gutters, in many older communities like this. The County placed permanent road signs in both directions on Lemon Crest Drive warning that this road floods. 

Addressing this historic flooding is #2 on the construction priority list for the community of Lakeside, after the $15 million Woodside Avenue Flood Control project which is nearly complete. The Lemon Crest project is currently unfunded and is estimated at approximately $8 million to install drainage facilities and improve the roadway. We are currently in the design and environmental analysis phase of the project, and are seeking to identify grants and matching funds to cover the full cost of the project. "