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Jun 11, 2009 9:33 pm US/Central
Flooding In Euless Causes Sewage Problems
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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This happened around 11:30 p.m. on June 10, 2009. We heard a loud thunder clap and a lightning strike that sounded as if it was on top of the house. We looked out the back doors and found half the tree on the ground. It split clean at the base. The remaini
KTVT / KTXA
Some residents in Euless are dealing with a double dilemma: flooding and raw sewage overflow. They say it happens whenever there's a big storm and the smell has them kicking up a stink.
"It's not fun. It's not fun," said Laurie Bickerstaff. She and her family say every time it rains, they plug their noses and pray.
This is why they worry. When big storms hit the area, the sewage system often backs up and spills out into their home.
"Everything just starts gurgling up from the drains," said Alex Bickerstaff. "It just keeps rising and rising and rising," added his mother, Laurie.
Thursday, two of the family's bathrooms were covered with contaminated water that spread into part of the master bedroom and a closet. "It got underneath the carpet and its sewage, so there's not really any way you can just clean it out," explained Alex.
Debbie McGee got hit with a double whammy today. Not only did her toilets overflow, so did the creek behind her house. Everything in her backyard was flooded with storm water, including her husband's work shed and the family's pool.
"Well everything was kind of floating," said McGee. "The pool is mud. It'll take three days to try to pump and clean and pump and clean."
Five homeowners along Eastcliff Street have gone to the city council asking for help. Assistant City Manager Lauretta Getchell said Euless is in the midst of a project to improve drainage issues. That won't fix the sewage problems though.
Getchell believes those are caused by insufficient sewage lines downstream that are owned by the Trinity River Authority.
She's hoping those lines will eventually be expanded. In the meantime, Euless has offered affected homeowners a device that can divert sewage back up into their yards instead of their homes.
Getchell said the city offered to clean the homes that were flooded Thursday, but all of the homeowners refused the help. The Bickerstaffs deny that claim. They say they would never turn down that kind of help.
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