On Tuesday, shop owners along Melrose Ave. cleaned up after rainwater from Monday’s storm flooded their stores.
Dominic DeLuca, who owns the store “Brooklyn Projects,” told KNX News’ Jon Baird that the city had pumper trucks on hand, but the city workers were nowhere to be found when the flooding began.
“Once the water started coming into all our businesses, two dudes came,” he said. “They opened up the manhole cover, and the water just went down, and that was it. The flood came and went in five minutes, but for 20 minutes, we were like, literally almost knee-high in water, and these guys weren't here, and they started BSing that, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we had people here.’ But I have video that shows the fact that no, they weren't here. None of them were in their trucks.”
Maggie, an employee at Crossroads Trading Company, told Baird that the water came through the store windows.
“It went almost to the racks over there, and we had people stuck in the store,” she said. “We had to evacuate through the back, so it was a little wild.”
She said that while the merchandise survived, the floor may have some damage.
But DeLuca said his inventory was destroyed in the rain.
“I probably lost $20,000 to $30,000 this time, and insurance doesn't cover it,” he said.
He said he wants people held accountable for this.
“The mayor needs to go and fire people, ok?” he said. “And Katy Yaroslavsky needs to come here and fire people. She needs to come and help our district because this district has been decimated.”
In a statement, the L.A. Sanitation Department told KNX News that Monday's rain "produced excessive amounts of rain that temporarily overwhelmed the stormwater system” and that the truck that was on site was designated as "backup equipment" and was fully staffed throughout the storm.
KNX News has also reached out to Councilwoman Yaroslavsky’s office.
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