Covington residents frustrated by frequent water problems

COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) - Piles of ruined appliances are on curbs and remnants of raw sewage in basements. This is what's left in the wake of the storms that hit hard in one neighborhood in northern Kentucky.

Some people who live on Covington's west side are livid. They're mad at the city for not picking up all the debris they brought out from their basements; they're mad at the sanitation district for not diverting water from their neighborhood; and they're mad at the insurance companies for not covering their losses, which are substantial.

Mary Neal showed Local 12 her basement now that the sewer water has subsided. She said she had about a foot-and-a-half of water.

"The TV was floating away from the step area. All this here was floating,” Neal said as she pointed to a pile of belongings. “The hot water heater, we can't even light."

"Peoples’ lives have been wrecked. Wrecked," said Coleman Stracener.

And just like Neal, Stracener is stuck holding the bill. He estimates about $20,000. His insurance company won't pay. But it's not just the appliances, the luggage, the electronics and the floors -- it's the family heirlooms that are now gone. And it's sending Coleman over the edge.

"We are being treated like second-class citizens,” he raised his voice. “I'm sorry; this isn't the medieval days where you can just dump your piss pot out the window and hit me in the face and I'm not going to say anything. This is ridiculous and it needs to be fixed. And somebody needs to be held accountable."

"Been here 28 years and this is the seventh time I've been flooded. Getting tired of all this nonsense," said Wayne Berry, a disabled veteran who's gotten to know his flood mitigation company well. "I'm 78 years old. I can't afford to move. I'm going to die in this house. The property values have dropped so much you can't even get what you owe on it."

Local 12 stopped by Sanitation District 1's board meeting Tuesday where we were told it would be economically irresponsible to build a system that can handle a 50 or 100-year flood, but they're doing their best by building more retention ponds so they can better manage stormwater.

"It would be economically irresponsible to build a sewer system to manage a 100-year storm or a 50-year storm -- the cost would be astronomical,” said Chris Cole from SD1. “So, we build for the storms that we normally face, and when more rain comes in than our system is able to handle, then we manage it the best we can."

But managing the aftermath of the flood might be a lot easier than managing the anger of residents. And as these things often go, the next storm might be brewing in court. At least one resident said he is trying to get a class-action suit together against the city of Covington and SD1. In the meantime, neighbors say they are planning to crash Tuesday night’s Covington City Council work session to let leaders know how they feel about the constant flooding. Covington Mayor Joe Meyer says there is no plan at this point to allow public comment.