OLATHE, Kan. — The torrential downpour Friday caused all kinds of problems, and one neighborhood is dealing with a particularly stinky situation.
Rain backed up sewage drains in several houses in a southern Olathe neighborhood. Gina Meyers’ family of ten spent the weekend cleaning up the mess leftover from last week’s rain event, and still has work left to do.
Meyers said most of the stuff in her family’s basement — including clothing, children’s toys and musical instruments — was submerged in eight inches of sewage by Friday morning.
“Bubbling up raw sewage from drain in the laundry room is beyond gross,” she said.
Meyers is frustrated because, according to the city of Olathe, the problem is the homeowner’s responsibility. Meyers said the city will supply her $2,000 for the necessary basement repairs, and insurance will cover $5,000.
Meyers received an estimate that it will take at least $8,000 to repair the basement.
According to a representative from the city, state law does not require its cities to reimburse homeowners for cases like the Meyers’ basement. Instead, it is only liable in cases of the city’s negligence.
To avoid shelling out money for cleaning, Meyers said her family has used bleach and soap to sanitize their possessions on their own. When they stopped to take a break from cleaning over the weekend, their frustrations only grew.
Two-thirds of the items they left sprawled out on their front lawn and driveway to “air out” were gone by the time they arrived home.
“It’s just stuff, but it was disheartening to have looting on top of all this stuff and sewage,” she said.
Meyers said even though the weekend has been a challenge, her family is keeping it all in perspective.
“No one was hurt,” Meyers said. “The same week this happens, Oklahoma gets hit with another tornado, so it’s like we’re safe, we’re good.”
