SAN DIEGO — It's been four months since the January 22 floods hit San Diego, destroying many homes and upending lives.
CBS 8 was there on January 22 and in the aftermath.
We are back in the community of Mountain View, four months since the storm to focus on the resilience of the residents and where they are in their recovery.
Elizabeth Jernberg is the Director of West Coast Operations for Global Empowerment Mission. They're a network of volunteers around the world helping in Maui after the fires, they've been on the ground for two years in Ukraine. They're one of the volunteer groups helping in Gaza right now.
They're also helping flood victims in San Diego.
"In this box we have everything from hygiene to non-perishable foods to laundry detergent as well as an extra pair of socks," Jernberg said.
"California likes to keep us busy. So, plenty of disasters from wildfires, earthquakes and floods. Last year was the first time I've ever did any floods," Jernberg added.
Jernberg knows firsthand what it's like to lose everything.
"I'm a Paradise Camp Fire Survivor,” she said. “We were ignited by a faulty power line by PG&E."
California's 2018 Camp Fire is the state’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire in history, killing 85 people and destroying 19,000 homes. That's why Jernberg says she knows what San Diegans are going through right now despite the differences in the disasters.
"They have to literally pick up their own items and dispose of them themselves. Vice versa, we go home, and you know, it's incinerated,” Jernberg said. “There's not a whole lot we (fire victims) can do about it but move forward."
Jernberg said she knows what kind of questions they're asking themselves right now, four months after the storm.
"How am I going to survive? How am I going to figure this out? I have kids. I have animals. What is the next steps?" Jernberg started.
"What's needed when you're homeless? Because of a disaster, what what's needed to get people back to normalcy, what is needed, that makes you feel good," Jernberg added.
The Global Empowerment Mission warehouse is full of $2.7 million worth of items needed for recovery with everything from socks to baby clothes.
"We make sure that our case managers get a list of like 150-170 items and if we could check off 50 of those and, you know, we feel that we've empowered that person," Jernberg concluded.
Global Empowerment Mission is using a building donated by San Diego County as their home base warehouse for case managers, city, county, state and FEMA reps to help victims.
For Elizabeth, helping San Diegans helps her continue to heal and recover after losing everything in Paradise.
"It's a different part of me that gets healed in different disasters. Things I didn't even know that needed to be healed," Jernberg.
Some of these families have help from insurance and some don’t. Some have help from FEMA while others don’t.
Recovery comes in different phases so the needs of victims could be a place to stay for a while or a new kitchen sink. The Global Empowerment Mission warehouse has all of those things, but they need help with getting supplies and donations. They also need volunteers to help sort donations out.
If you want to help, you can by calling 559.309.1473 or email Elizabeth Jernberg directly at elizabeth@globalempowermentmission.org.
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