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Water and sewer backed up into 15 properties on Youngstown’s West Side
YOUNGSTOWN
About 15 properties, primarily on Whitney and Mahoning avenues, had water and sewage backup into basements as the result of a major sinkhole that caused water and sewer lines to collapse on the city’s West Side.
The city is having 250 feet of sewer lines replaced, and it will be about a week before the Frank Sinkwich Bridge — on Mahoning Avenue between Glenwood and McKinley avenues — reopens, Mayor John A. McNally said.
Mahoning Avenue is one of the major roads to get to and from the city’s West Side, particularly for those in Austintown.
The sinkhole on Mahoning Avenue, near McKinley, is about 25 feet across and 15 feet deep, McNally said.
The city closed the bridge Tuesday to give crews the space needed to make the repairs, he said.
A company hired by the city is working 16-hour days to fix the lines and the sinkhole.
Heavy rain Tuesday caused backups in a number of houses, mostly on Whitney, McNally said.
“We had one or two calls earlier in the week about backups in basements,” he said. “It [got worse] late [Tuesday] afternoon with the rain.”
About 15 properties had backups, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the public works department.
“Whitney got it the worst,” he said of water and sewage backups.
Also impacted were St. John Lutheran Church and the Paisley House assisted-living facility, both on Mahoning.
After the basement flooding, Dominion East Ohio turned off the gas to impacted properties, and won’t turn the gas back on until the water and sewage has receded, which McNally said has occurred.
However, Dominion also requires an inspection of hot-water heaters and furnaces before turning the gas back on, McNally said.
“We’ll take the action necessary to replace hot-water heaters and furnaces and to clean basements,” the mayor said. “We want to get health and safety issues addressed.”
McNally is asking those impacted by the flooding to contact their insurance companies and the city’s law department at 330-742-8874.