The historic Jan. 22 rainfall in San Diego and the ensuing flooding brought to the fore questions about San Diego's infrastructure and its capacity to withstand future storms. More than 1,200 people have been displaced following the floods and hundreds of structures were heavily damaged.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg talked to NBC 7 about federal relief funds in the immediate future, and discussed projects designed to mitigate the long-term effects of a changing climate, particularly along the coastline.
"Like people around the country, we were shocked by some of the images we saw about these storms," Buttigieg said via Zoom on Thursday. "We've already received a letter of intent from California's Department of Transportation about seeking emergency relief funds. I let Governor Newsom know that we're going to do everything we can to support that request and do what we can, not just to shore up infrastructure that's been damaged in the short term but also to make sure that infrastructure is ready for the long term."
Buttigieg said engineers will go through and assess damage in California and provide emergency relief funds where applicable. He said that the process could take some time but that the Department of Transportation is "here to help" with structures affected by mudslides and the storms."
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Meanwhile, the DOT has awarded $53,898,206 for replacing the San Dieguito River Railway Bridge in Del Mar. The single-track wooden structure is more than a century old and sits within the 100-year FEMA flood elevation. The new bridge will be lifted 8 feet to account for rising sea levels, converted into a double track and made more pedestrian-friendly. It is part of one of the busiest Amtrak corridors in the country.
"I'd say we can't afford not to," Buttigieg said. "If you allow a 107-year-old single-track wooden bridge to be a single point of failure on one of the busiest passenger rail corridors in America, then you're basically waiting until something bad happens. Shame on us if we put everything back the exact way it used to be. We're not going to build according to the specifications that made sense 100 years ago because, frankly, we're not in the same climate that we were in 100 years ago."
