Close to 250 children were trapped at their after-school program after rain flooded the two roads that lead to their building.
There are only two ways to get the After School Learning Tree on Sorrento Valley Road: Carmel Mountain Road, which flooded Thursday morning, and Sorrento Valley Boulevard which went under water just as the kids were starting to pack up for home.
Parents and school administrators put their heads together to figure a way out, but in the end they could only wait for flooding to subside.
"I kinda expected it ‘cause the rain was super heavy this morning, but I didn't expect this long,” parent Jie Kyn said. She had to wait more than an hour after pickup time to get to her son and daughter.
Two lifeguard crews were called. The kids missed out on a short boat ride and instead piled into school vans and were shuttled to a nearby train station where their parents were waiting.
It wasn’t their typical after-school pickup, but the students stayed safe and dry.
A program administrator says flooding in the area is a reoccurring problem but said it has never been as bad as it was Thursday. The program is encouraging parents to write to the mayor about the drainage problems in the area.
