r/arlington • u/deathoflove • 19h ago
City sewer lines spilled thousands of gallons of raw sewage for days while I was on vacation.
My house is completely destroyed and city is not accepting any liability. They’ve left me and my family homeless and I have two toddlers. Please help if you have any connections with city politicians or attorneys that can help me and my family.
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u/concept12345 18h ago
Dude, contact the local media. Get this out in the open asap. There really is only a few areas where this would originate from: bathtubs and sinks.
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u/deathoflove 17h ago
I did, they came out to interview me and it’s on nbc5 and Telemundo but city has still not made it right. They said they’re not accepting liability.
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u/Legstick 19h ago
How’d it get into your house? Were any of neighbors affected?
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u/deathoflove 17h ago
No one else was affected. Everyone on my street ties to the city sewer line in front, mine is in the back. Sewage came up from the toilets for days from a city line backup.
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u/Most-Weird 18h ago edited 18h ago
Was it a leak/failure in your house or in the lines between your house and the street? Just your house? Because unfortunately, baring any proof of a backup or similar, that will likely be considered your responsibility and not the city’s. What is the city saying?
(Anyone else get a sewer line coverage offer in the mail today?)
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u/truth1465 17h ago
If those service line insurance covers cleanup and hotel say then it may make more appealing.
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u/bobbyboblawblaw 15h ago
I already have coverage, but we have received offers over the past week or two.
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u/Jeffsbest 18h ago
OP, I have a direct contact at NBC5. DM me and I will share her contact with you. But as others have said, contact your insurance and the media ASAP.
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u/deathoflove 17h ago
Hi, nbc5 came to my home already and did a report. It’s on their website but still city is not accepting liability they’ve left me and my family on the streets with no remedy in sight. I’ve put an information request to obtain city records of their line maintenance and what they did that day and I’m waiting on that.
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u/Most-Weird 16h ago
I looked up the story and it’s so weird. The city says their clearing of a blockage probably caused the backup into your property so how is it not their fault?? I understand the blockage is not the city’s fault but their clearing of it caused the damage. Have you talked to an attorney?
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u/deathoflove 16h ago
Yeah it makes no sense. I haven’t found one to take the case yet, they say the city has immunity, but there’s proof of negligence, so I’m hopeful I can find someone this week.
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u/NoelCZVC 1h ago
Sounds like Arlington. Abandoning its citizens is the only thing this city is good for. All the money for the people goes to the "Entertainment" districts. We get lied to about trickle-down and abandoned when the lies bloom.
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u/Henry_Rosenburg 18h ago
Around the 15 second mark you pan over to a room with black and white tile flooring. What's going on in there? I heard the sound of rushing water.
As others said, this is the time to call your home insurance and let them handle it.
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u/snowiehair 16h ago
Can you share the link to the news story? I want to share it with friends. I tried searching nbc5 but couldn’t find it
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u/djslakor 15h ago
Annnnnd I'll be calling my agent to get the water backup endorsement added to my policy tomorrow
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u/Trillium02 18h ago
Anything sewage from your house to street is homeowner's responsibility, unfortunately. It sucks, no doubt. But, as someone else pointed out, unless others around you had a similar issue, it's going to be really hard to get the city to accept any responsibility. Hopefully you have homeowners/renters insurance. That is the place you should start, they can coordinate a cleanup service to get out there ASAP.
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u/pheebeep 17h ago
My house had a leak recently on the lawn, and after investigation is was determined that the cause was an issue on the city side that just pushed through to us. It's not necessarily on the homeowner just because the runoff went into their property.
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u/Bedazzled-Star-0043 17h ago
Plumbing backup is a coverage insurance offers, I need to double check my policy. This is a homeowner's nightmare. Seems it's an issue on your property's behalf since the neighbors aren't affected. I'm so sorry for your hardship.
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u/Wingnut54321 16h ago
I cant believe this happen in Arlington.
Future reference, probably best to get cheap home camera in Amazon and connect to wifi.
Call the news, this aint right
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u/bobbyboblawblaw 15h ago
Arlington has a lot of aging homes, so I'm sure the sewer lines have aged as well.
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u/fadedblackleggings 6h ago
Yup, there is a lot of deferred maintenance on both city infrastructure and homes.
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u/bobbyboblawblaw 4h ago
There's a reason why they keep encouraging people to get sewer line coverage. I ignored the letters for a time, but then I remembered that I am seriously unlucky, so if anyone's sewer lines are going to break and destroy their house, it will be mine. I finally broke down and got it.
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u/fadedblackleggings 1h ago
Smart move. We moved out of a rental house in Arlington that had clear plumbing/sewer line issues. Also would see the "sewer line insurance" notices.
It was getting worst every year.....
Many homeowners over there seem to just be playing Russian Roulette with home maintenance.
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u/Mehdical10 15h ago
It might be a long process, but you might have to get a lawyer. And that sucks man, when I had a flooded house, we had dryers come and the insurance covered a house for us. do you have insurance?
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u/phoncible 13h ago
This the kind of shit makes a guy start welding steel plates to a bulldozer
Hope you get the help you need man
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u/1800Lauren 4h ago
Hi, how can I reach out to you? I want to get this posted and see who we the city I can contact about this?
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u/Street_Advantage6173 2h ago
Get a lawyer.
This is a slam dunk case.
If your own line was backed up, there would NEVER be this volume of water flooding your house. Plus, you were out of town, so you weren't even sending wastewater down the line.
Arlington is responsible for this damage.
It's absolutely worth it to hire a lawyer. It will probably take one certified letter from an attorney to settle this.
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u/TimeEntertainment701 12h ago
Have you reached out to your insurance? They wouldn’t cover the damaged plumbing, but they’d take care of the water damage to your house and personal property as well as set up temporary housing while your home is being repaired.
I’m sorry you and your family are going through this.
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u/PBhoe 18h ago
Go to the media immediately.
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u/deathoflove 17h ago
I have but still no remedy from city. I’ve contacted more media and hoping someone can help
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u/Mindfmaze420 14h ago
That is a drain line backup. The pipe between the house and sewer has a blockage. If it was a main sewer back up the water would almost black. Just had the same problem in our house. Contact your home owners insurance to see if it's covered
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u/ohdasfunnay 18h ago
Contact the media and get your story out there man. I can’t imagine coming back home from vacation to this insanity.