SAN DIEGO — Wanda Rogers said she was in her office when she saw her Mercedes Benz washed away by floodwaters.
"I see the water gushing from my office and I said, 'wait a minute, wait a minute, my car!' It's no longer in sight. I said, 'take a minute, nothing you can do about it,'" said Rogers.
On Monday morning, floodwaters moved cars around the Jacobs Center in Southeast San Diego near Chollas Creek. People there said the area rarely overflows.
The water pushed a brand new Tesla about 60 feet away and caused it to become stuck under a tree.
"This was crazy, really, really, really crazy," said Selena Ellis-Vizcarra, who owns the Tesla.
The current was so strong, it even forced a dumpster to travel a mile down the street.
"I've been here my entire life, and I don’t remember anything like this," said Ellis-Vizcarra.
Another neighbor, Kathy MacCarthy, parked her Jetta on the same street.
"The whole experience was surreal, like a movie. You think, 'that can't happen to me,'" said MacCarthy.
All of their cars were declared totaled. Luckily, they all have insurance and plan to get new cars.
"It's super sad. The car is brand new. We haven’t made a payment on it. At least nobody got hurt. The cars are not fine, but we are. We will be alright," said Ellis-Vizcarra.
"Glad that it's only a car, it's not the end of the world," said MacCarthy. "It's another demonstration that we are not in charge of nature. Grateful to be safe and alive."
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