Letter: Flooding damage to my Fall River home is over $20,000 and nobody will help me

We received the following letter from a resident of Fall River:

I’m a resident on Lisbon Street here in the city, and I’ve been trying so hard to get some resolution to the ongoing street flooding (over sidewalk).

This street has insufficient storm water drainage in place and every time it rains heavily the street floods and manhole covers popping off from the underground pressure of the water.

The water has no place to go and backs up over the sidewalk and under my house.

With this happening, I’ve installed a commercial sump pump and with the flash flooding that happens it can’t keep up. My neighbors have the same issue as well.

My homeowner’s insurance won’t reimburse me for the damage.

I had a structural engineer look at my foundation and has determined that the damage was caused by the repeated flooding. My finished basement is destroyed along with mold damage. Total damage is over $20,000.

I have reached out over and over to the mayor, city counselors, state officials, news media, and no one can help me. City Hall just says “we are aware of the situation and forwarded your message to Paul Ferland Community Utilities.” (Update: Carole Fiola and Michael Rodrigues reached out today and said they were going to follow up on this).

The surrounding infrastructure creates such a high volume of rainwater flow that the existing drainpipes can’t keep up and I keep getting at least 5 inches of water in my basement.

Thanks for reading this. Hoping if I keep making enough noise someone will help!

Lisa M DeSa