As the rains continued to beat down today, businesses in the area near Folsom and 17th fought once more against nature and the area’s tendency to flood with the Stable Café estimating damage of $80,000 to $100,000.
More than a dozen businesses and homes were affected by rain that overwhelmed the area’s drainage system. As Mission Local wrote earlier, “The drainage problems from 14th to 18th streets between Folsom and Harrison streets date back to the mid-1800s, according to city officials. The area used to be a marsh; the city filled it around 1860 or 1870,” but there are on-going battles over whether the city did a good job as rains inevitably bring flooding.
“We have to throw everything out, cancel events and cover our employees’ salaries,” said Francisco Garcia, the manager, as he kept making calls to rearrange his scheduled catering events. The Stable is housed in a building with four other businesses.
The Stable’s prep and cooking area was completely overflown with sewage water, he said. They will be closed for a couple of days while the city cleans up the mess – a process that usually takes the city between two to five days, he said. Once it has been cleaned up, they have to take down the sheetrock walls and rebuild them.
Gallardos, a Mexican restaurant at 18th and Shotwell, experienced flooding of at least a two inches of rain water that flowed all the way to the back of its storage room, said Juan Gallardo, the owner.
“When we opened we thought it was dirty, but the water covered all of it (the floor),” he said.
Gallardo and his employees cleaned up with brooms and mops and hoped to be open by noon. Generally, the restaurant opens at 7 a.m.
Hans Art Automotive at 3121 17th St. got at least “one good foot of water,” said Sophia Chicas, the manager.
As soon as they got in this morning, Chicas and five of her employees swept out most of the water with a broom and waited for the city to come and acess the damage.
“Three cars have been damaged with water,” Chicas said. “The cars are low and it starts flooding (inside the car).” She prepared herself for calling the owners of the cars.
“We have to make that difficult phone call and people get angry,” she said.
Most of the businesses on Folsom near 17th Street had sandbags to prevent the water coming in, but even that was not enough.
Francisco Picaso, who has lived at 2106 Folsom St. for the past 43 years and also manages the adjoining properties, said there had been a lot of damage.
All three of his garages were flooded with a good two to three foot of water, he said. He started to get nervous about the rain at about 2:30 am. He put on his water resistant pants and boots and went downstairs to install the three pumps the city gave him last year to in case of flooding. The pumps have a hose that drains the water out to the street.
“This time we got ten inches more than last time,” he said referring to an earlier rain this year.
Picaso said most of his back yard had flooded, ruining his plants and a recently purchased barbecue.
Hello from 18th Street, bet. Shotwell and Folsom. We’ve had flooding around our flats at least three times since I moved into the place (2004). It’s not as bad as the neighbors get around the corner on Folsom (I believe they 17th/Folsom area is even closer to sea level than we are!) Less water dribbled into our flat this time–it comes in from outside by seeping over (?) the foundation, if the water outside rises high enough–but the amount of water that blew up from the drains (on both sides of the flat; I’m on the ground floor) was far worse than previous floods. The water rose several feet alongside the building, all in about 15 minutes.
But…weren’t the storm drains/sewers under 18th Street rebuilt some years back, specifically to prevent flooding? I recall many months of early morning wake-ups from construction crews–jackhammers make great alarm clocks! Plus there was a storm-drain valve retrofit project of some sort last year, water-grabbin’ sidewalk plantings, etc. But still ,we got swamped again–maybe even moreso than last time. Lots of crud blown up along with the water, looked like a mix of sand and chocolate pudding. Maybe all the crud built up during last year’s driest year since the 9th Century, since there was so little water to move it along?
— eaplatt
The San Francisco Motorcycle Club was also flooded. Nothing too serious, but the vintage hardwood floors were damaged, and will need repairs, as were several historical items that were in storage at the time.
Thanks for all the photos. Unbelievable that it’s become a never ending issue.
2 of my childhood friends grew up at the apartment buildings on the corner of folsom cross street 17th. That flooding has been happening since they were in elementary school. We’re 32 years old now. Sucks its barely becoming a major issue now