On Saturday, 1,700 people were forced to flee after the Pajaro River levee broke. Officials knew the levee was vulnerable for decades, according to the Los Angeles Times.
On this edition of Your Call, we discuss California’s ongoing storm, which is still wreaking havoc across many parts of the state.
On Saturday, a levee broke along the Pajaro River in Monterey County forcing 1,700 people to flee their homes. An aerial view of the area shows neighborhood after neighborhood submerged in flood waters.
More than half of Parajo's residents are primarily low-income Spanish speaking. Many are farmworkers.
For decades, officials knew that the levee was vulnerable, but never prioritized repairs, in part, because they believed it did not make financial sense to protect the low-income area, according to the Los Angeles Times.