“We’ve been living here for the last two and half years, and this is the first time I have seen any time of flooding like this,” said resident Benjamin Wilcox as he recollected the impact of flooding at Acampo’s Arbor Mobile Home Park.
When a series of atmospheric rivers hit San Joaquin County during the weekend of Jan. 14, Arbor Mobile Home Park became one of the worst-hit places in the county, forcing at least 175 residents to evacuate by the night of Jan. 15.
The city of Lodi had said in a social media post that the Lodi Fire Department provided aid at the mobile home park and moved more than 200,000 gallons of water from the housing area.
“When they made it mandatory evacuation, that’s when you know, it got real,” Wilcox said.
Benjamin Wilcox lives at Arbor with his fiancé Ryan Lawson and his two-year-old son Joey and was one of the few residents who stayed back amidst a mandatory evacuation order.
“Our son and I left when the flooding started,” Lawson said. “The electricity was out; it was too cold to stay here.” Lawson and her son stayed in Lodi and Vacaville before returning to Acampo after the evacuation order was lifted on Jan. 23.
“I decided to stay behind because I know there are a few other elderly people around here,” Wilcox said. “They need generators and fuels.”
Wilcox noted that a lot of the elderly people in the community needed electricity to run their CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machines at night, among other basic life needs. Arbor Mobile Home Park had been out of electricity during the flooding. With assistance and donations from his neighbors, Wilcox said that he was able to deliver supplies to his elderly neighbors in the area.
Wilcox has now set up a table outside his residence, filled with free supplies for anyone to pick up, with donations brought in every day. “We have a few cases of bleach, tens of cases of water, candles, canned goods, bread, eggs, milk, and the list goes on and on,” he shared. “Everything from coffee to baby formula, and now we’re starting to get pet supplies, which is going to be good.”
