Ewww! 3,000 gallons of sewage, blown back into one's home...

[Gewehr98]

ABC News
House Blasted by 3,000 Gallons of Sewage
Workers Trying to Clean Out a Grease Clog Blast N.C. House With 3,000 Gallons of Raw Sewage
The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Utility workers trying to blast out a grease clog from a sewer line forced 3,000 gallons of raw sewage into a couple's home, forcing them to abandon their house while hoping that the city makes good on a promise to clean up and repair the damage.

Mac and Meg McCormick say city leaders have also promised to pay for their stay in a hotel until the repairs are complete. The couple doesn't have any of the agreement in writing, and city officials have declined to discuss the case because it's ongoing.

"We feel we have no choice but to put our trust and faith in the hands of the city," Meg McCormick said this week as movers hauled damaged furniture from her house. "And I'll be honest, that's a little scary."

Scott Denham, the risk manager for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, declined to discuss the details of the sewage backup, but did say, "There's no question of the severity of this event."

City officials don't even know how much the repairs and cleanup will cost, Denham said. Meg McCormick said she has received estimates of $75,000 to $150,000. The house has a tax value of $101,300.

Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotte.com

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures

They'll never get the smell out!

[Larry Ashcraft]

Almost the same thing happened just a couple blocks from my shop, TWICE.  One family is friends of mine, the other one was in the newspaper.

Sewer backed up, flooding the basement.  Family is moved out and cleanup begins.  That means removing everything in the basement, discarding it, and replacing carpet, drywall etc.

The city pays a MAXIMUM of $3500 for the damage.

I love the people of Pueblo CO, but the city SUCKS.  (I guess thats why I don't live in the so-called city.)

[P95Carry]

Ewe - gives whole new meaning to ''backing up''!

As for clean-up, well who would want that job!  Yuk!

[280plus]

Wow, now THAT'S a crappy situation!

[Sindawe]

EEEKKK!!  Gods, what a nightmare that would be.  I've seen footage of those clean up operations on Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel.

Fall of '89 the ex and I came w/in 1/2 inch of the same disaster.  The apartment we lived in was a garden level unit in a building that had 28 some units in it.  Woke up on a Sunday to find that sewage was backing up into the tub and toilet.  Asking the people on the floors above us to refrain from water use due to the issue was greeted with "Not my problem, sucks to be you LOL!".  At least until I located the main water shut off for the building.

The backflood climbed to with in 1/2 inch of overflowing the tub and toilet.  We were on the high end of the slope, folks further down were NOT so fortunate.

The townhouse I own now is also on the highend of the drain slope (I checked durning construction), and as a bonus, *I* control the main shut off valve for the water to the building.  If I want my neighbors to not use any water, they ain't gonna use any water.

Side note: How many of you shut off the water when going away on vacation?  Last November one of my neighbors left town just before Thanksgiving and was away for three weeks.  A few days after he left, the tank on the toilet sprung a leak and the water just ran and ran and ran.  Soaking the carpets, the drywall, the subfloor and filling the basement.  At least until the water got deep enought to trip the breaker on the furnace.  Then the water froze.  We figure he had about 4000 gallons in the unit, and damages exceed $23k.

[BozemanMT]

Worked with a guy who was remodeling his home (1890's 4-square) with the basement that is about 4' deep (although about 6/7' tall)
and when i first went over I said man, that furnace and water heater are OLD.
The furance it turns out was 31 years old, the water heater was 20+
I said "dude, replace the water heater now"
well, I'll get to it

6 months later he goes on vacation for a long weekend.
come back to 4' of water in his basement.

Sure enough, water heater blew.
replace water heaters BEFORE they blow.

but yeah, turning off the water is a good idea if you can, esp in the winter.

[doczinn]

Asking the people on the floors above us to refrain from water use due to the issue was greeted with "Not my problem, sucks to be you LOL!".

That calls for something really nasty. Look up George Haywood.

[brimic]

During a freak flood about 7 years ago, the sewer backed up in my mother in law's basement. It wasn't really raw sewage more like 'gray water' but nasty nonetheless. Spent the evening in waders ripping out carpeting and removing nasty furniture. Wouldn't wish that mess on anyone.

[cfabe]

We had a sewer backup, luckily in the unfinished portion of the basement and not too deep, but it left quite a pile of 'matter' to be cleaned up after the water receeded. Probably 4 5-gallon buckets of slop, of which you can imagine the composition. Disgusting. I can't imagine feet of that in the basement.

[erik the bold]

Seems to be happening  a bit too much in the Charlotte area of late.  See this from February:  http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/viewtopic.php?id=2639