On Jan. 22, San Diego’s usual sunny days were clouded as a storm struck down on California. According to a CBS news article, “Historic California rain could foreshadow more extreme rainfall in coming weeks” the after effects of the weather conditions on cities are set to be in a “fragile state” whilst new records set for recorded rainfall in Southern California.
As the storm that was predicted to hit San Diego County on Feb. 1, Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) released an email on Jan. 31 to families and staff declaring that schools would remain open and the safety of others is being prioritized. However, schools, businesses and homes faced the consequences of the unexpected strength from the storms that were brought upon communities. Bonita Vista High (BVH) Principal Lee Romero shares his shock as rain came down on the campus.
“I don’t think we are ever prepared for the rain. Last week when all that rain came down in a span of three hours, no school in the SUHSD district could handle that much rain that fast,” Romero said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen next week [Feb.4-Feb.10] because there’s another storm coming.”
Students awaited the conditions BVH would face as rain poured down and areas flooded, water leaking in classrooms and drenched clothes in the past weeks. BVH administrators and staff tended to previous water damages brought upon the school and now hope for the best, unaware of what will occur in the coming weeks.
“[Rain damage] impacts the school tremendously as for example, in a leaking classroom, if there was a water damaged computer, that’s one less computer they can provide for a student. Things will need to be moved around or else they won’t work anymore because of water [damage],” Career Technical Education Engineering and Architecture teacher Beatriz Velosa said.
The growing list of damages and impact of the storms weighs heavily on BVH’s janitors. Romero explains how night-shift janitors have been asked to join day shift janitors due to the increased work needed to keep the campus well taken care of. BVH janitor Carlos Buntun emphasizes the impact on his daily tasks caused by the rain and dangers it has posed on the community.
“Janitors are called in earlier because of the aftermath and affected classrooms. While the campus is affected by weather, students should stay out of the rain as they are at risk of getting sick. Janitors worry when the hallways become slippery and there are a number of deep puddles,” Buntun said. “There are also concerns with driving even if our community is usually safe about driving, students and staff should remember to have patience and drive slowly on the slippery roads as well.”
Romero places heavy emphasis on student drivers and prioritizing student safety with patience and alertness. Furthermore, encouraging students to take extra precautions and safety as they drive in rainy conditions. He describes how San Diegans are not used to dealing with extreme weather conditions which can lead to challenges when driving in such harsh conditions.
“Now that it’s been raining for a few days, it’s a little safer as oils have mostly washed off the streets but students have to be careful with hydroplaning. Everybody needs to drive slower and have a little more patience in waiting for people because others may not know how to drive in this rain,” Romero said.
Furthermore, Romero shares other concerns amongst administrators including the long standing trees around campus, specifically the one located in the main quad. He additionally goes on to explain the stresses caused by weather conditions that are being brought onto the community.
“Another thing that scares me is that from the big rains last week, the ground is saturated, and when it gets saturated the trees soak up all the water and the limbs get very heavy. Last week I taped it off and we are planning to tape it off again in the coming week,” Romero said. “Trees are going to have a lot of water and I just don’t want anybody to get hurt with that tree. There’s many things that you worry about as a principal.”
Looking to get ahead of the incoming storm Romero has brought construction trucks to clear all drains and prevent mass flooding throughout BVH. To ward off further classroom damage, classrooms have also been provided buckets to capture leaking water and prevent further flooding.
“When it rains this hard, we are super vigilant to try to clear out drains and try to clear out the gutters. Even doing that you can see little pools of water around campus as the drains are undersized. The water is all backing up and it gets a little chaotic and scary for me as a principal.”
Preparing BVH for future weather conditions has evolved into a construction proposal to remove the previous three inch drains that are too undersized for the rain that now hits California and floods BVH. The drains will be redone and bigger in size to prevent further issues in BVH. Romero further expresses the importance of being prepared and making it clear that schools are a place students can feel safe.
“Student safety is always number one. If we believe that the school would not be a safe place to be, we would definitely cancel school, but we’re not at that point. We talk about school safety, work towards making the trees safer and are undergoing future construction in hopes of better managing the underwater water infrastructure,” Romero said.
