SAN DIEGO — There was nothing that Idella White could do to get away from the incoming floodwaters inside her Southeastern San Diego home.
The rising water inside of the 94-year-old's home knocked out power to the chair lift White uses to get up the stairs to her bedroom.
Unable to walk, White used her arms to drag her body up six steps, enough height to keep her dry.
White remained there for two hours before anyone from the city arrived.
But through it all, White wasn't surprised.
She knew that the nearby flood channel couldn't handle even the mildest of rain storms, let alone a historical storm that dropped inches within the span of a few minutes.
In fact, White had seen other floods in the 55 years that she and her family have lived in the home on 33rd Street in San Diego's Stockton neighborhood.
But both White and her daughter, Carolyn Carr, knew this storm was more than the average storm.
"I watch the news," said the 94-year-old resident. "I love watching the weather too and I heard them talking about this atmospheric river."
White then asked her daughter to call the city and tell them that the storm drain was full of trash and debris.
"There were trees growing in the drainage channel, trash was all over, there was even a wheelchair blocking a part of the drain," said Carr, a former city employee.
Carr filled out a request on the city's Get It Done website.
"The storm drain channel needs to be reevaluated for drainage, lots of flooding due to rain," wrote Carr on the city's website.
As she has done numerous times before, Carr said she also called the city and spoke to a representative from the stormwater division.
"I told them that a major storm was coming and that we were going to flood. I told them to do the due diligence to protect the neighborhood. I told them just like I told them before," said Carr.
The city's response, Carr said: nothing.
Now, two days after floodwaters inundated several neighborhoods in Southeastern San Diego, Carr and her mom, Idella, sit upstairs and wait for workers to come clean the mud, mold, and trash from White's home.
White sounds oddly accepting of the fact that her daughter's warning to the city once again went unheeded.
"I guess I got used to them not doing anything," said White. "For 50-some-odd years that I have lived here, I haven't seen a single worker here to clean out that drainage ditch."
White's daughter, Carr, however, isn't so accepting.
"Forgive my language but it's [expletive]," said Carr. "If this was La Jolla or a community north of Interstate 8, it would be different, they would be up in arms and the city would be acting, but not here."
Mayor Todd Gloria is urging residents such as White and her family to fill out county surveys which will determine the amount of federal aid that San Diego will receive. Gloria also said that he and the city are "focused on clean up and helping people recover."
But Carr said she doesn't buy it.
"I need help. We need help here and we are not getting it."