Calipatria - It was a rainstorm of a magnitude not seen in Calipatria in fifty years... On Friday the 13th, a massive storm breached the east highline canal and flooded a vulnerable part of the city.
Today, the recovery process continued as the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors held a special meeting to discuss the flood.
The community had the opportunity to ask questions about the aid and recovery process.
The board of directors took notes as residents suggested changes to the drainage system that would deter floods from causing so much damage to the city.
Although some aid has been provided to displaced residents, questions still arose of local funding, something that IID already has found a short-term solution for.
IID General Manager, Jevin Kelley says, "By action of the board, we're making available 200,000 dollars for the next 60 days to relieve some of the suffering going on among the displaced families".
At the end of the night, flood victims had many of their questions answered at this meeting... But they were still left with some doubt... One of those doubts is whether the city will get state funding... IID says that they have yet to hear from the state.
For environmental advocate, Luis Olmedo, it is the long-term solution he is looking for.
"We haven't seen th worst of it", he says. "I don't think today was really a discussion of the long-term, the damages, the damages to the home, the mold, and everything else that was carried in by the flood into the community."
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