Homes flooded amid water main break, Ophelia’s rain

A water main broke early Saturday morning, coupled with heavy rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia, causing extensive damage to houses in Nottingham.Residents in the 4400 block of Fullerton Avenue told 11 News they woke up around 5:30 a.m. to multiple feet of water in their basements.A resident, Patrick Wood, sent photos into 11 News that showed his basement completely flooded.In their three years of living on Fullerton Avenue, Josh Saylor and his wife told 11 News they’ve never seen this much water in their basement.”We were up in Deep Creek this morning, and I got a call at 5:30 from one of my neighbors, saying, ‘Hey, there’s some kind of flooding going on.’ He came over to our house, we gave him the code to get in and he said it was filled with water (and he) sent us some photos, and we had about 18 inches of water, and that was a fun thing to come home to,” Saylor told 11 News.A water main is the suspected culprit, coupled with rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia that may have added to the influx of water that pumped into their basement.”The sump pump started working, so when we got here, it wasn’t 18 inches. It was just the waterlines were 18 inches where it was marked. So, it was mostly sludge and really thick stuff that was apparently coming up through the toilets,” Saylor told 11 News.Baltimore City, which is responsible for the water system, confirmed there was a water main break in the area, but that it wasn’t confirmed on their end until about 9:30 a.m.Residents said they believe the flooding resulted from a combination of a serious water main break and a lack of proper drainage on their streets.Saylor told 11 News that his home sits at the bottom of three hills, and the current drainage system is clearly not working. He and his wife just finished renovating their basement six months ago.”We’re cutting out 2 feet of the drywall all around the basement and we’re going to probably have to rip up some of these floor tiles in this room just because we don’t know what was in the water,” Saylor told 11 News.City officials told 11 News the water was not contaminated.With already having had two sump pumps installed, Saylor told 11 News that he hopes local leaders will reconsider the existing strategy.”I’m sure they have engineers that can see how water flows and can figure out that what we have is inadequate,” Saylor told 11 News.The Saylors lost their hot water heater, a freezer, a washing machine and a dryer, and now much of what once furnished this part of their home lines their driveway in garbage bags, destroyed.Residents said the cleanup will take weeks, if not months.

A water main broke early Saturday morning, coupled with heavy rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia, causing extensive damage to houses in Nottingham.

Residents in the 4400 block of Fullerton Avenue told 11 News they woke up around 5:30 a.m. to multiple feet of water in their basements.

A resident, Patrick Wood, sent photos into 11 News that showed his basement completely flooded.

In their three years of living on Fullerton Avenue, Josh Saylor and his wife told 11 News they’ve never seen this much water in their basement.

“We were up in Deep Creek this morning, and I got a call at 5:30 from one of my neighbors, saying, ‘Hey, there’s some kind of flooding going on.’ He came over to our house, we gave him the code to get in and he said it was filled with water (and he) sent us some photos, and we had about 18 inches of water, and that was a fun thing to come home to,” Saylor told 11 News.

A water main is the suspected culprit, coupled with rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia that may have added to the influx of water that pumped into their basement.

“The sump pump started working, so when we got here, it wasn’t 18 inches. It was just the waterlines were 18 inches where it was marked. So, it was mostly sludge and really thick stuff that was apparently coming up through the toilets,” Saylor told 11 News.

Baltimore City, which is responsible for the water system, confirmed there was a water main break in the area, but that it wasn’t confirmed on their end until about 9:30 a.m.

Residents said they believe the flooding resulted from a combination of a serious water main break and a lack of proper drainage on their streets.

Saylor told 11 News that his home sits at the bottom of three hills, and the current drainage system is clearly not working. He and his wife just finished renovating their basement six months ago.

“We’re cutting out 2 feet of the drywall all around the basement and we’re going to probably have to rip up some of these floor tiles in this room just because we don’t know what was in the water,” Saylor told 11 News.

City officials told 11 News the water was not contaminated.

With already having had two sump pumps installed, Saylor told 11 News that he hopes local leaders will reconsider the existing strategy.

“I’m sure they have engineers that can see how water flows and can figure out that what we have is inadequate,” Saylor told 11 News.

The Saylors lost their hot water heater, a freezer, a washing machine and a dryer, and now much of what once furnished this part of their home lines their driveway in garbage bags, destroyed.

Residents said the cleanup will take weeks, if not months.

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