Flooding problem in Howard Beach, Lindenwood man-made

HOWARD BEACH (WABC) -- In Howard Beach and Lindenwood, city workers are clearing the sewers of debris, doing whatever they can to prevent a backup like what happened during the last major rainfall when the streets turned into rivers.

As a doorman in Manhattan, 41-year-old Jose Torres is used to welcoming others home, but he has been without one of his own since sewage destroyed his first-floor apartment.

"18 inches of water into our back, it destroyed everything into the back of the house - my son's wheelchair, and his medical bed," says Torres.

Torres' teenage son suffers from Muscular Dystrophy and can't walk. The motor in his son's wheelchair shorted out in the flooding. Torres' family is living with his sister upstairs.

"I have to pick up my son and go up and down the stairs with a 150 pound kid on my shoulder every day to take him to school and bring him upstairs," Torres adds.

The city tells Eyewitness News that the flooding should not happen again. They say a computer malfunction at a nearby water treatment facility caused the sewers to back up two weeks ago. They say they are aware of the problem and will make sue excess flood water makes its way into Jamaica Bay.