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McKeesport Flood Victims Still Drying Out

MCKEESPORT (KDKA) – A local neighborhood flooded for a fifth time, and homeowners want to know why the problem hasn't been fixed.

Outside Tom Nicholson's McKeesport home, water last week was cascading down a hillside from a catch basin that overflowed in the back of his house into Nicholson's backyard and basement, and also into the homes of several of his Greenwood Avenue neighbors.

Nicholson says it's a bad dream that keeps recurring, explaining, "This happened five times already. We've lost everything we own five times. The insurance company won't pay for nothing. All this money is coming out of our pocket. I just can't do it no more."

Isaac Daniele's basement game room was also flooded last week with several feet of water. He also is blaming the catch basin for the flooding.

flooded-basement-mckeesport
(Photo Credit: Isaac Daniele)

Now, Daniele's game room is still drying out.

"I got flooded just as well," Daniele said. "I had about 4 feet of water in my basement. Refrigerator floating, washer and dryer destroyed. Furnace, hot water tank destroyed, and my TV too."

A catch basin on the hill above Greenwood Avenue is supposed to prevent rain and storm water runoff from causing flooding problems.

Nicholson and his neighbors think the catch basin near their homes is more of a problem than a solution.

Nicholson put boards up in his backyard to try to prevent the flooding. It hasn't worked.

The city had dump trucks remove the ruined furniture and other items that flooded residents like Nicholson and Daniele had piled up outside their homes.

According to Nicholson, "the city keeps saying the sewer company is responsible. The sewer company says the city is responsible. But nobody is doing nothing."

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