"Thousands of gallons" of sewage repeatedly floods Somerville home during rainstorms
SOMERVILLE - Few in Somerville have been dreading this weekend's expected rainstorm more than Nick Motyl. It will be the third storm in a week, and each time, his home has overflowed with sewage.
"Started coming up through the shower right there," he said, pointing to the bathroom. When he blocked the shower drain, he said it came up through the toilet. "For probably 15, 16 hours, we're talking about thousands of gallons running through here," he said. "Going through the back of the house, going into my dining room, going into my bedroom and into the kitchen, like everything is ruined."
During last weekend's storm, a Somerville Public Works crew came to the home to help. He said a worker told him it may be connected to a block in an underground line that runs from his home to neighboring Medford.
When Motyl's own plumber checked the lines on his property, he could not find a clog. "He ran 80 feet of snake. He said there was no clog. I mean he was definitely in the sewer line, but what else can a homeowner do?" After he paid thousands of dollars for a cleaning crew, a second storm mid-week caused the water with raw sewage to shoot out of the bathroom drains all over again.
A spokesperson at Somerville City Hall told WBZ they have reached out to the Inspectional Services Department to look into the situation.
"I live here, I work from home, I feel like I did everything right," said Motyl. "I saved up my money, I bought a house."
He's currently staying with friends because he says the home currently isn't safe to live in. He planned to put sandbags around his bathroom Friday night ahead of the next storm, run a pump, and hope for the best.