BROCKTON, MASS. (WHDH) - When sewage water started gushing into his home this past spring, Fredrick Coleman didn’t know what to do.
“I was shocked… I ran upstairs and I had to just grab the phone to call the city. I was kind of panicking actually because I really didn’t know what to do. I had never seen this before,” Coleman said.
He’s lived in his Brockton home for more than two decades and never experienced anything like it.
“I was just so nervous because there is nothing I can do,” Coleman said.
Water poured out of his basement’s sink and washing machine.
It was a similar scene at his neighbors’ houses.
“I opened the basement door and there you go, I looked at the toilet and it was just flooding out like everything…feces, water,” said James Bullock, who lives on the same street in Brockton.
Four to six inches of contaminated water flowed from Maria Silva’s toilet and coated her newly finished basement in filth.
“I’m thinking the money I just spent fixing it, just went down the drain because now I have to do the floors again,” Silva said.
She had to throw out furniture, appliances and clothes that were damaged and now she can’t afford to fix it.
“I can’t afford it right now. I can’t,” Silva said. “I’m stuck here.”
A collapsed drain on the street caused flooding during a storm. Before city workers could get the water to stop, seven homes were damaged.
Months later, the dirty water is gone but a big mess remains.
While the city sewers caused the problem, Brockton officials initially denied residents’ request for repair reimbursement.
“The lack of action really hurts me as a taxpayer of Brockton,” Coleman said, “For the city of Brockton to just ignore us, not giving us, not even acknowledging us, not even calling us to see if there is anything they can do to help us that kind of hurts; really hurts.”
Coleman has a $10,000 bill from cleaning up his basement and estimates it will take another $10,000 to fully restore his basement.
“They’re waiting for their money, and we don’t have the money to give them,” explained Joanna Coleman, Fredrick Coleman’s wife.
Joanna Coleman has lung disease and is on oxygen. They couldn’t take the risk of her breathing in mold.
“We already had people come in and start doing the work because we had mold in the wall and the floor had a pesticide so now we have to get that removed and I have to get it done,” Joanna Coleman said.
7 Investigates reached out to the Brockton Mayor’s Office and was eventually able to get the city to pay for the repairs.
The city is now offering checks that total more than $100,000 to cover the damage for four homeowners who submitted claims.
“Ugh, finally! It took long enough but you know what the end result is that we are all going to get reimbursed for something that we did not cause, and we can all get our basements back to normal,” Joanna Coleman said.
The Colemans plan to use their check to replace the floors and walls in their basement.
“I’m just so happy that they finally realized that it was their fault,” Joanna Coleman said.
In a letter to the residents, Brockton officials cited “good will and compromise” for the reversal of their decision to pay for repairs. The city would not elaborate on what led to the reversal.
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