APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A group of Appleton residents are considering taking legal action against the city, demanding it help them recover from last week’s flash flooding that sent thousands of gallons of water and sewage into their homes.
Dozens of homes along North Viola Street sustained significant damage from the storm. Some had nearly two feet of sewage seep in.
“Terrifying and traumatic.” That’s how Rachel Peterson explained the flooding at her home Friday. “We had 80,000 gallons of water in our basement in five minutes.”
The rain water rushed so fast through her backyard, it took out part of her home’s foundation.
“We have two car door sized holes in our foundation right now. Our house is completely unlivable,” said Peterson.
She and dozens of her neighbors believe the city of Appleton is responsible for what happened, accusing it of not properly maintaining the storm and sewer system. “Something similar to this happened 20 years ago, so there’s been plenty of time for the city to address this issue and they still haven’t,” Peterson added.
According to Peterson, after she was evacuated from the area by boat, with the help of the Appleton Fire Department, she watched city employees remove manhole covers from her street. While removing the manhole covers led the water to recede, in less than an hour, it also sent sewage back up into several homes.
“The obligation of the city to make sure that storm and sewer system are functional, they clearly failed to meet that obligation,” said Peterson.
Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford refuted those claims.
“We did not have any indication of a breach of that system or blockage of that system that would have caused an event like this to happen. We have not found any evidence of that. They underlying cause is receiving an extraordinary amount of rain in a narrow band of the city in a very brief period of time,” Woodford told FOX 11 on Monday when asked about the resident’s claims.
Peterson and her neighbors, who are considering legal action against the city if they don’t make things right, says the mayor’s rationale doesn’t make sense. “The affected area was so specific that if it was just all of this rain everywhere, we would have seen damage in so many more homes.”
FOX 11’s follow up requests to speak with Mayor Woodford, now that residents of N. Viola Street are demanding a meeting with him, have gone unanswered.
Peterson said Woodford is refusing to speak with her and her neighbors too. “We are going to coordinate an effort and continue to be in contact with the mayor until we reach a resolution. We’re not letting this go.”
Residents on N. Viola Street are being encouraged by neighbors to fill out a notice of injury and claim and submit it to the state in hopes of recouping what has been lost.
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