Bolsa Knolls neighborhood experiences flooding again

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Bolsa Knolls neighborhood was hit hard over the weekend due to the gusty winds and heavy rain.

People in the Bolsa Knolls neighborhood are frustrated with the repeated flooding in their neighborhoods.

Flooding forced neighbors this week to, once again, rush to prevent water from getting into their homes.

"In the middle of the night, I heard a noise and I said, well, what am I hearing? I got up and it was my neighbors all running around trying to keep the water from going any farther," said Mary who lives in Bolsa Knolls. "So we were up from like 1030 until two after two in the morning, trying to sandbag and pump water and what have you,"

Mary says it's a scenario she's had to deal with over the last 30 years while living in Bolsa Knolls.

Paul Avenue where Mary she lives looked like a river on Monday after heavy rainfall.

"Other people come to look and they drive fast and make tidal waves, and it pushes it into our houses and our yards," said Mary.

Now, almost every home on Paul Avenue is bordered up with sandbags.

At Ferrasci Park, neighbors can come and fill up their sandbags provided by the county of Monterey.

Another line of defense against flooding is clean drainage systems which the county says they clean regularly.

"We clean them before, during, and after, a rain event so that we ensure that we're minimizing the amount of silt that will flow onto the roadways," said Nick Pasculli, County of Monterey Communications Director.

Pasculli says mitigating flooding in the Bolsa Knolls area isn't easy.

Pasculli said it's a neighborhood surrounded by ag fields and when it rains, the fields create more runoff into the streets and waterways because the fields are covered in plastic to protect the crops.

Neighbors aren't accepting this as an excuse and want the county to do something to prevent future flooding.

"I'm 76 years old and a widow, And why can't the county do that?" said Mary. "Why can't they just keep the culverts cleaned out? That's all we're asking for," .

We asked the County of Monterey if there was anything in the works to help prevent floods.

Pasculli told KION they're working with county supervisors on "Solutions" but wouldn't tell me what those possible solutions are.

Denner Road is only open to people who live in the area.