SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Hundreds more residents were cleared to return to their homes Friday, and city officials said they don't believe any houses were damaged beyond repair after Coyote Creek overspilled its banks Tuesday in San Jose's worst flooding in decades.
City officials also confirmed no structural failure caused the sudden catastrophic flooding along Coyote Creek that forced thousands to flee their homes, raising further questions about why residents had no warning before rescuers evacuated them by boat.
Officials from the city and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which oversees flood control, have indicated there was miscommunication about the extent of the threat. The water district says it alerted the city overnight that waters were rising fast, but city officials said the district continued to indicate water flows were within the creek's carrying capacity.
Mayor Sam Liccardo said Friday he will ask the City Council next week to schedule a public discussion about the city's response to the flooding to provide a "full accounting" of what happened.
"The bureaucratic finger pointing stops today," Liccardo said. "Regardless of what other agencies did, or didn't do, these events happened in my city and I take responsibility for them."
David Sykes, director of the city's Emergency Operations Center, said the number of homes under evacuation order fell from 1,100 Thursday to 765 Friday, and the number of displaced residents from 4,000 to 3,000. Tuesday's flooding left 14,000 under mandatory evacuation orders.
"We're making a lot of progress," Sykes told reporters Friday afternoon. "If we encounter homes that are completely un-occupiable we'll have to figure out what the plan is. At this point we haven't encountered that scenario."
The city is opening a new "local assistance center" for flood victims Saturday at the Shirakawa Community Center. It will be open through next week, and will provide information about tenant assistance and help with various social services and public agencies. He added that "this is a safe place for affected residents regardless of immigration status."
An overnight shelter at James Lick High School's gymnasium where 133 displaced residents have been sleeping on cots will remain open through Sunday. The city plans to find a replacement after that because school resumes at the campus on Monday, Sykes said.
"Our plan right now is to maintain shelter operations until everyone can get back into their homes," Sykes said.
The city is providing commercial trash bins in all three of the areas that flooded Tuesday to collect furniture and other property ruined by the contaminated floodwaters, Sykes said, including the mobile home parks, William Street and Rock Springs areas.
While a sprinkling of rain is expected Sunday, followed by a week of clear skies, Sykes said it does not appear there is further near-term flooding danger.
"I would say the risk is extremely low," Sykes said, "but our emergency operations center will be open all weekend."
City officials are asking for monetary donations to help flooding victims. By Friday afternoon, a relief fund set up by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation had reached $519,000. The money will be donated to nonprofits that provide food, clothing and shelter to victims.
Tuesday's flooding caught city officials and residents by surprise, something Liccardo has called a "failure."
Rachael Gibson, the water district's emergency operations center spokeswoman, indicated to the city that flooding along Rock Springs Drive wouldn't happen until water flows hit 7,400 cubic feet per second.
Mayoral staffer Alex Wilson conveyed that to Liccardo in a 10:40 a.m. email Tuesday, but Liccardo wrote from his iPhone at 1:42 p.m.: "Alex, Rock Spring started flooding three hours ago. They're all wrong."
Yet Gibson on Friday noted that district spokesman Jim McCann emailed San Jose officials at 2:47 a.m. Tuesday alerting them that a Coyote Creek gauge showed water already flowing at 6,000 cubic feet per second and that it could reach Rock Springs about 6 a.m.
Cheryl Wessling of the city's Office of Emergency Operations emailed McCann back that she and others were going to get "a few hours sleep" and would check back at 5 a.m. whether to "further update outreach." Sykes said Friday the emergency center remained staffed all night.
For Janet Childs, a crisis counselor who lives in the South Bay Mobile Home Park, this is the second time she's been flooded out. She was staying at the Lick gym after fleeing Tuesday with her two cats, Remy and Mystic, as floodwaters rose to the doors of her Subaru.
Childs said she was flooded out in 1983 as well, and is familiar with the range of emotions flood victims go through.
"You think it couldn't possibly happen," Childs said, adding she was heartened by the support from rescuers as well as the community. "What's the meaning we can take from this? Even in midst of trauma, we rise together."
