'What a shock.' Storm soaks Cambria woman's garage — and she doesn't have flood insurance Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA) Feb. 2—What a shock early Jan. 27 as I watched the water level rise in our home's garage! It was bad enough that the incoming runoff — from the start of a massive storm that would drench the North Coast in up to 18 inches of rainfall — was soaking things stored by our garage door. The muck was spreading faster, closer, to the inside of our home. I didn't panic. I couldn't. No time for that. Son Brian couldn't help, not with a recent surgical incision on his foot, still too sore for a waterproof boot and too vulnerable to infection. Who knew what evil things were lurking in that ugly water?