WASHINGTON — At least 12 homeowners in Southeast D.C. are upset after a collapsed pipe sent sewer water into their homes located along the border between the District and Prince George's County, Maryland.
Neighbors along Southern Avenue Southeast and Fort Dupont Street Southeast say they first noticed the issue on Monday night around 9 p.m.
Khianti Silver says she noticed sewer water was coming out of the showerhead of her basement bathroom. Silver says she has dealt with flooding in the past, but on Tuesday at around 4 a.m. she woke up to a strange smell.
"I smelled something burning, and I am thinking the house might be on fire or something and then I run downstairs and go into the basement," Silver said. She was met with at least 2 feet of sewer water downstairs.
Kendall Grant who lives next door to Silver says he lost thousands of dollars in belongings.
"My TV is basically gone, my record albums, my books, stereo speakers, couch is destroyed, washer, dryer – it's sad," Grant told WUSA9.
Neighbors who live in D.C. say they reported the incident to DC Water on Monday night. When crews arrived Tuesday, they say they were blamed for the issue.
"They argue with us, and tell us that we did this and that we were the cause of the backup. It was a really aggressive encounter for people that have been up all night," homeowner Kayla Smith said.
Homeowners say a second DC Water crew arrived on scene at around 10 a.m.
"Once the second crew comes, their truck falls into the road. It looks like a huge sink hole. They acknowledged that the pipes are fully collapsed," Smith added.
WUSA9 reached out to a DC Water spokesperson who confirmed that their crew was trying to help with the truck got stuck in the hole. He added that the sewer line is connected to WSSC Water's infrastructure and that the blockage was on the other company's side.
The homes are on the DC side, but the sewer line is connected to WSSC’s infrastructure and I am told the blockage is on their side. Please contact them for details.
Nearly 20 hours into the issues, homeowners were growing frustrated by the lack of answers and the cold temperatures.
"We still have power but we don't have any heat. So we are running heaters and our Wi-Fi still works but soon we have to make another decision because the water is still rising at this point," Silver said.
Crews from WSSC Water also arrived on scene and on Tuesday evening Lynn Riggins, a spokesperson for the company said they are responsible for the pipe that sent the sewer water into the homes.
"There are a lot of interconnections in the area. That is not uncommon. We do believe there is a 10-inch main in the street here that is causing waste water to backup into homes. What happened to that pipe? It's too early to tell," Riggins told reporters.
Riggins says WSSC Water was not notified about the issue until Tuesday, and that the homes impacted by the issue belong to DC Water. An emergency contractor was sent to the scene to assist with the damage.
WSSC Water says they will work with the impacted homeowners to help with cleaning their basements. It is still unclear how long the repair and cleaning process will take.
This story has been updated to reflect that a spokesperson did respond to our requests regarding the incident. A previous version stated that WUSA9 had not received a response.
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