A series of stores in Los Angeles’ Fairfax district were damaged by flooding during Monday’s downpour, with business owners saying it’s a recurring problem that the city fails to fix every year.
Along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, entire blocks of businesses were damaged by floodwaters that poured inside, leaving behind mud and water damage and thousands of dollars in damage to inventory and merchandise.
Keagan Johnston, manager of Brooklyn Projects, a skate shop that was damaged, told KTLA that the Los Angeles Department of Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) had deployed a pump truck in flood-prone areas in advance, but it had no effect.
“I was a little confused when the water started coming up and no one did anything,” he said. “All the water went right into the store… all the way back into the office and bathrooms… ruined all our stuff.”
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The sanitation department said in a statement that the flooding was due to “excessive” rainfall that overwhelmed stormwater systems, insisting that trucks proactively deployed in the area during the storm were adequately staffed.
“LASAN crews proactively deployed to the area in advance of the storm and worked around the clock to clean catch basins, remove debris and mitigate flooding. The powerful, sudden and fast-moving storm system associated with atmospheric river conditions produced excess rainfall that temporarily flooded the stormwater system,” a spokesperson for LASAN said. “The large Vactor truck on site during the storm was designated as backup equipment. It remained fully staffed throughout the storm and was not unmanned.”
The spokesperson added that LASAN will continue to coordinate with business owners to ensure they have sandbags, know about future repairs, and have contact information to report flooding or other issues and address questions or concerns.
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Along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, entire blocks of businesses were damaged by floodwaters that poured inside, leaving behind mud and water damage and thousands of dollars in damage to inventory and merchandise. February 2026. (Video video)
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Along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, entire blocks of businesses were damaged by floodwaters that poured inside, leaving behind mud and water damage and thousands of dollars in damage to inventory and merchandise. February 2026. (Video video)
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Along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, entire blocks of businesses were damaged by floodwaters that poured inside, leaving behind mud and water damage and thousands of dollars in damage to inventory and merchandise. February 2026.
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Along Melrose Avenue near Martel Avenue, entire blocks of businesses were damaged by floodwaters that poured inside, leaving behind mud and water damage and thousands of dollars in damage to inventory and merchandise. February 2026.
In the meantime, business owners must now clean up ahead of a lull in storm activity on Tuesday and before more rain moves into Southern California later this week.
“It’s a huge loss,” said Yafta Sakhai, who owns four businesses in the 7400 block of Melrose Avenue, all of which have been affected. “The city is supposed to handle this. No one is here to help.”
It’s unclear whether the city will help pay for the business’ cleanup costs.
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