Dozens of
North City residents were evacuated from their homes after
Saturday’s storm caused damaging sewer backups.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Metropolitan Sewer District representatives announced that a power outage at one of its pump stations caused the flooding at Dryden Court and Dryden Avenue near Interstate 70 and Shreve.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Four to six inches of rain dropped in a 90-minute period and overwhelmed the system, said MSD’s spokesman Lance LeComb.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>LeComb estimates that MSD will reimburse about $2 million in damages for about 35 homes in this area. However, LeComb said they have not found that the power outage caused backups in other areas, including Essex Place near Natural Bridge Avenue. These homes will not equally benefit from MSD’s full-damage compensation but receive a $2,400 maximum reimbursement.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“There is no system you can build to handle these kinds of storms,” he said. “It’s a function of too much rain coming out of the sky.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>However, some area residents are not convinced of MSD’s claims.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>21st Ward Alderman Antonio D. French and state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed hosted a town hall meeting last night with MSD officials to address their concerns. Another meeting takes place today (Thursday, June 29) at 2 p.m. at The Sanctuary, 4449 Red Bud Ave.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Since midnight on Saturday, MSD has received more than 500 calls, LeComb said. No neighborhood was hit harder than the Penrose neighborhood, French said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We will fight to see that MSD does right by the people affected by this weekend’s flooding,” French said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>French told
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>The American residents of Essex Place on Sunday morning and spent “the next 48 hours helping folks get their lives back on track.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Since Leeroy Ray moved into his house on Essex Place in 2006, he has experienced more than $30,000 in water damage from three different storms. Saturday’s storm was the most damaging.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I had five feet of water in the basement at certain points,” he said. “I lost everything in my basement.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The flooding took out his water heater, air conditioning unit, furniture, washer and dryer, and everything else. He estimates the damage will total about $15,000.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>So the $2,400 reimbursement check he could receive from MSD is not comforting, even with his home insurance covering some costs.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You keep making insurance claims, they are going to drop you or raise rates through the roof,” Ray said. “You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s a real problem that they are not trying to address – $2,400 will not cover replacing the furnace yourself.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Ray said the sewer system in the front of his house can’t handle any heavy rain, but other parts of the metropolitan area don’t seem to have that problem. The streets buckled at Marcus and Natural Bridge avenues and Marcus and Essex Place.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You could literally swim off my front porch to Natural Bridge,” he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Ray and his family were just recovering from the last storm, which hit on his birthday, May 26, 2010. It caused $8,000 in damage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Three out of four years, there has to be a flaw in your system,” he said of MSD.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“They want you to sign a waiver and walk away. I’m scratching my vacation plans. In the next month, my kids are going back to school. And they want to play the lowball game.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>LeComb said the flooding at Essex Place was too far away and too high in elevation to be caused by the power outage at the Harlem pump station, but they do not consider it a closed matter.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The area may just need an upgrade, he said, as the sewer system was built in 1850, and the community is much different now. LeComb believes the federal government will help fund such upgrades.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Over the next several years, we will very aggressively address flooding issues, which ultimately are waste water issues,” he said.