Yonkers family searching for answers after apartment flooded with sewage water during storm

CeFaan Kim Image
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Family wants answers after apartment flooded with sewage water
CeFaan Kim reports on a Yonkers family whose apartment was flooded with sewage water.

YONKERS, New York (WABC) -- A family in Westchester County is looking for answers after their basement apartment was flooded with sewage water.



Raw sewage poured into the Yonkers apartment of Francine and Heaven Voliton Monday night during the torrential storm that came through the area.



"The water was coming in from this side and that side," Francine said.



There was no end as it kept coming from several corners of their apartment on Orchard Place, ultimately sweeping up almost everything inside.



"Right in this corner over here it was gushing out water, over here was gushing out water, under the radiator," Francine said. "We have to throw all this stuff out. TVs, laptops, clothes, linens, shoes, everything."



Two days later, Francine and her daughter haven't even been able to think about what they lost as they've been too busy cleaning, trying to bleach the rancid disgusting smell from their unit.



But how did sewage get mixed in with rain water?



A spokesperson for the city says it was a combination of a sinkhole and the storm that caused all the mess downstairs.



That spokesperson says a broken pipe on Friday caused it and that crews came out that day to fix the problem, but they couldn't.



The city says the building landlord is responsible, but calls seeking comment from him were not returned.



The Voliton family says the landlord is blaming the city, but the bottom line is that nobody is taking the blame.



"It feels really depressing, like we just lost maybe about $3,000 worth of things and nobody is gonna help us, reimburse us for anything," Heaven said.



In the meantime, they still have days of cleaning ahead.



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