Floodwaters pour into basements

Water removal companies said they are overrun with emergency calls.
By JOHN SKENDALL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Flooding here and in surrounding townships Wednesday left homeowners with basement pools up to their knees, waists and even shoulders.
Some who have never seen so much as a leak in their basement had to shut off their electricity and gas, and rescue floating refrigerators, washers and dryers, due to record rainfall.
As water removal companies compile five- and seven-day waiting lists for emergency services, area residents are scratching their heads, wondering what to do next.
For homeowner Jacky Thompson of Homestead Drive in Boardman, water started spraying up from her basement sewer drain around 2 p.m. Tuesday, filling her basement. Using two pumps, she managed to get the water level back down, she said. But then at 8 p.m. came a steady flow of water from a 2-foot "river" going around her house and up from her basement drain.
It's a story hundreds of area residents can tell, but that's no consolation to Thompson and her neighbors, as they trade pumps back and forth and load their garages with soaked items from the basement. They showed Polaroid pictures from Tuesday night of water lapping the top rim of their 5-foot water heater.
Busy companies
Up the street, workers removed piles of loose pavement turned up from the rush of water flowing through the neighborhood.
"This is the busiest we've ever been," said an employee of All-Action Restoration Inc., a water removal and repair service on West Western Reserve Road in Boardman.
The company, which employs 13, already has a week-long waiting list of emergency calls for basement flooding.
It, like the other two dozen or so water damage companies in the area, is scrambling to offer minimum service to hundreds of homeowners. Companies quickly pump out the basement water, pressure wash and disinfect basement walls, and leave fans and dehumidifiers to be picked up later.
'Just isn't normal'
Dave Finney, president of Cure-All Professionals Inc., a water removal service in New Middletown, said the amount of flooding he's seen "just isn't normal."
He said undoing the damage to basements is quite expensive, especially to people with finished basements. Carpeting is being removed and dried and padding replaced. Electrical wiring, drywall, insulation and furniture have all fallen victim to the water.
When water comes up from the sewer drain, soaked furniture and materials are a health risk and have to be replaced altogether, said Stacey Emery, also of Cure-All Professionals.
Emery said her company uses protective clothing to remove items from sewer-drain flooded basements. She advises homeowners to be patient and avoid contact with the contaminated water.
The calls Emery gets now are from homeowners calling for the second time -- after they've learned CPI's waiting list is just as long as everyone else's.
Everyone, it seems, is in the same boat.