Davich: Sewage backup: The city needs to know

Updated: May 19, 2014 2:01AM

Erma Love guided me into the family room basement of her Gary home, shook her head out of frustration, and let out a long sigh.

You see that? asked Love, 71, pointing to obvious water damage along the baseboards.

And that? she asked, pointing to soiled furniture in a basement bedroom.

And that? she asked again, opening up a broken closet door. Nobody wants to take responsibility for any of this mess.

Love and her husband, Ernest, have lived on Louisiana Street, just off 5th Avenue, for more than four decades. They didnt have sewage backup problems until last year, they told me.

In October, sewage backed up into their basement causing extensive water damage, lost furniture and hefty costs to rehab the family room and adjoining rooms.

I paid $1,200 to get it done, plus another $400 to the Roto-Rooter man, Love said.

A few of her neighbors also have suffered similar sewage backup problems since the fall.

Every time it rains, we have to put on our worry faces, Love said while dragging out items from her basement on yet another rainy day.

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Davich: Sewage backup: The city needs to know