Pajaro teen struggles to balance school with storm debris clean up after flooding

PAJARO, Calif. (KION-TV) -Imagine your home four to five feet underwater because of flooding earlier this year in the town of Pajaro.

That is what Dana Sosa experienced as a teenager who lived with her mother.

"I didn't know that it was going to affect us this bad, like, everything is gone," said Sosa. "Me and my mom had to move to Salinas because we don't have a place to live in."

The impact of the flooding has lasted well beyond when the levee breached in March. As the family recovers, plans for a quinceanera for Sosa will now be put on hold.

"My quinceanera should've been the least of our problems since the whole flood thing, but I am sad that I missed out on that," said Sosa.

At this point, Sosa feels like she's drowning in all the responsibilities.

"To do school work, and when I had to help out here and help dig out the mud," said Sosa. "It was really hard, especially because I feel like the house and schoolwork was just an added-on stress."

Sosa is just patiently waiting for her home to get fixed so she can move back in with her mother.

Her family's waiting for their insurance to get back to them to start the reconstruction of their home. It's been a couple of weeks since they first reached out.