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[Southsider2k12]

We went out to Garwood today, and driving along Highway 20, there are significants parts of it underwater. Behind the Big Lots building, where the marshland is, that has overflown and is covering a lane to a lane and a half of the road, and it is still raining. Going along 20, there are lots of parts of Evergreen Plaza and Trail Creek that are flooding as well. Hopefully everyone out there is OK!

[Southsider2k12]

Being on Ohio Street, I am really glad we don't have a basement.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=40406.37

The flood of sewage in city neighborhood

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

Ohio St. residents complain about 'disaster' after recent rains.

MICHIGAN CITY - A group of Michigan City residents flooded into City Hall on Tuesday night seeking help from the City Council to tackle problems of water and raw sewage in their basements.

Luke Monroe, 4332 Ohio St., represented owners of 20 homes caught up in what he called "the disaster on Ohio Street." Some homeowners have been dealing with sewage backups since 1972.

Monroe, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, said the heavy storms weren't the reason for the sewage backups.

"The sewer problems have been ongoing," Monroe said. "Residents who've been here 20 years see backups every few years."

Monroe said appeals made to previous councilmembers seem to "fall on deaf ears."

He said the problems have been reported to the Sanitary District for years. Repairs have been made, but breaks have reoccurred.

"We don't have the extra money to go out and buy furniture every three years," Monroe said. "It doesn't seem like we're being heard."

Allen Briggs, 103 Southwind Drive, told the council he is next to a pumping station and can hear when the pumps stop working.

Since last November, he's had three incidents of sewage backup in his basement, and he's concerned his insurance carrier will drop him.

"There's a problem on that corner," Briggs said. "It doesn't take a lot of flooding for it to back up. The Sanitary District has to address this pumping station issue."

Standing water with human waste was not the only problem. Some had furnaces that won't work, and others have been without hot water since Saturday. Some of those with homeowner's insurance found out they didn't have coverage for sewer backups.

Councilmembers Ron Meer and Bob McKee got firsthand looks at the residents' situations over the weekend.

"There are a whole lot of different problems happening in the area at once," McKee said. "There are some macro issues with drainage problems and short-term problems."

Meer said he was aware of ongoing problems in the 4200 and 4300 blocks of Ohio Street, even with lesser storms than the record-setting weekend downpours. Any financial assistance from the city would have to come from the mayor's office, not from the council, he added.

The best hope for assistance is to have the county declared a disaster, according to John Jones, Michigan City director of emergency management. Jones said he met with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday afternoon to report on more than 300 flooded basements, and his phone rang constantly with calls from those wanting to file reports.

"The majority of calls are about water seepage from saturated ground," Jones said.

Jones said a field representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be in Michigan City by Thursday to review individual and public-assistance needs.

The Sanitary District has fielded more than 150 calls, Jones said, and he will cross-reference calls in both departments.

Jones expects to have more help answering phone calls today and encourages everyone with water damage to call him at 873-1499.

Those who have called for cleanup service should keep all receipts and take photos of the damage for the record, he said. If the county is declared a disaster area, FEMA will help those without insurance, and people with insurance probably will need to get a denial of coverage letter from the insurance company.



Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.