The banks of the San Diego River and the areas around it have increasingly provided shelter for many of the city’s unhoused residents.
Some see it as an escape from the chaos of being houseless in downtown San Diego.
Unfortunately, the region’s recent storm systems turned that home into a floodplain.
“I’m holed up in Palm Canyon, adjacent to the hotel circle because I knew it was going to be raining,” said C.C. Brewer.
He's been homeless in San Diego for years. Ahead of the heavy rains, he went in search for drier and safer land.
“I camp close down the road and I was afraid of the mudslide,” he said.
He talked to KPBS while trying to stay dry under a makeshift tent and tarp, near Fashion Valley Mall.
That’s one location of San Diego that got hit hardest by flooding.
“When things get really bad like this, people are more enthusiastic about coming inside for services,” Bob McElroy said.
He’s the CEO of Alpha Project — a nonprofit organization that provides services and shelter to the homeless.
McElroy told KPBS there’s been a rise in the number of people living in high-risk areas like river beds and canyons.
His organization's outreach teams helped to connect people in those places to their shelters amid the storm.
“So we've set aside some beds at all four facilities for folks and we've seen a dramatic increase coming up out of the river bed,” McElroy said.
At least seven people had to be rescued due to the flooding of the San Diego River.
Brewer said others living in the riverbed branched out, looking for higher ground.
He and McElroy agree that most people experiencing homelessness want and need permanent housing. Without it, Brewer said more people will be in dangerous situations.
“There's always people that are last to hear, ‘the flood gates are opening, run.’ If they don't know, they're sitting in their tents and all of a sudden here comes this wall of water,” he said. “It’s happened several times. Luckily I know not to be down there when it's raining.”
While the worst of the rains have passed, the city’s Inclement Weather Shelter program will open Tuesday night and provide over 100 beds starting at four locations throughout San Diego.
