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SLC residents deal with ‘horrendous’ smells, loss of belongings in flood aftermath

City opens resource center where victims can report property damage and connect with resources.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ana Holt walks amount the fans, not that the carpet and everything has been removed from her basement. Nearly everything that was in the basement needs to be thrown away, after sewage water flooded the basement of her home 2100 South. Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

About 4 a.m. July 28 — in the midst of a heavy rainstorm — Salt Lake City resident Daren Gisseman heard sewage shooting out of the toilet in his basement and went down to find it erupting about 6 inches above the rim of the bowl.

Sewage also emerged from the shower and floor drain, and the smell was “horrendous,” said Gisseman, who lives near 2100 South and 1800 East.

The sewage affected all kinds of furniture — beds, carpet, couch, chairs — and ruined clothes, luggage, pictures, keepsakes and other items being stored in the basement, Gisseman said.

“Some things you can’t replace,” he said, noting that he disposed of many items in a hazmat bin.

Gisseman was among at least 28 residents who stopped by the city and county’s Multi-Agency Recovery Center (MARC), 1234 S. Main St., on Wednesday — the first day it was open — to report property damage and find help from resource organizations gathered there.

Emmy Thomson said she saw water “cascading down” a hill toward her home, near 1500 South and 900 East.

The water contained rock chips, apples and additional debris from other people’s yards, she said. It came “crashing through” her garage, she said, bringing in 2 feet of water and “completely” flooded her basement with a water level that rose part way up the stairs to the main level of her home.

Thomson, who is a teacher, said she lost childhood photos, books, lesson plans, and boxes of supplies and props. Her furnace no longer works and there’s no hot water in her home, she said.

“You just stand there at a loss. It took me five days to figure out how to call to get help. You just don’t expect it. You’re just kind of stunned,” Thomson said.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Emmy Thomson shows where flood water came pouring into her basement storage room, flooding the basement of her home on Lincoln Street. Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

Almost 200 other private property owners have come forward to the city so far to report damage, said Emergency Management Program Director Cory Lyman, each presenting problems specific to their homes or businesses.

The city had received a damage estimate of upward of $5 million to $6 million as of Wednesday, but Lyman said that number could go up because a complete damage report is not expected until Aug. 15.

Property owners are urged to contact the city about their situation to find out what resources are available, Lyman said, adding that accurate reports of damage will help with the city’s appeal to get federal aid for the local emergency.

Private property owners won’t get a payout from any federal aid received by the city, Lyman said, but if they come to the MARC, they may be able to get help elsewhere. Residents’ best bet for getting help is to work with their individual insurance companies, he said.

But, as Thomson pointed out, “Who would’ve ever thought there would be a flash flood in the desert?”

Water from the storm dumped 2.5 inches of rain onto Salt Lake City in less than an hour, Mayor Jackie Biskupski said at a news conference Wednesday, a rate that has not been rivaled in the city in the past 200 years.

Tina Spencer, a client caseworker with the Red Cross, said she’s spoken to people whose apartments were filled “ceiling to floor” with water from the floods. One man had to swim to get out of his apartment, Spencer said. Another couple escaped through a window. Now, residents are dealing with the aftermath.

The smell downstairs “made your eyes water,” Thomson said, and if it’s left alone, mold could overtake the whole house, making it unsellable.

Gisseman and others on his block are dealing with sewage-soaked walls and damaged sheetrock.

Additionally, a person with autism had been residing in Gisseman’s basement, he said. The person was asleep at the time the storm came and had to be carried out. The deviation from the person’s normal routine and lifestyle has been an especially difficult adjustment, Gisseman said.

In next-door neighbor Ana Holt’s basement, the bedrooms of her young children were destroyed, along with nearly everything in them, she said.

Unlike most flood victims, they didn’t experience any run-off from the rain, Gisseman said, and, therefore, he has been told his insurance likely won’t cover the damage to his home, estimated between $30,000 and $50,000.

Salt Lake City’s sewer system is separate from its storm drain system, officials said Wednesday, and the city is looking into how the weather could have had that kind of an impact in homes like Gisseman’s.

He and his wife went to the MARC to see if he could apply for no-interest loans being offered there, but to qualify, there has to be a combined household income of less than $50,000, he said. The couple, both school teachers, was turned away.

The Gissemans also had hired a company to help with clean up, which vacuumed, took out the carpet and then didn’t show up again. After talking with city officials, Gisseman said, he learned the company wasn’t even licensed to operate in the state. Now he’s working with Utah Disaster Kleenup to help get their home back in order.

“You still have all that insulation that’s sopped up the sewer water. It’s all in the walls and it’s cooking right now,” due to the hot weather that followed the storm, Gisseman said.

Thomson is working with contractors from Idaho because, she said, all the Utah companies are swamped with work.

She utilized resource stations at the MARC on Wednesday and applauded the idea of having resources together in one place, Thomson said.

Ed Blake, state president for Volunteers Organizations Active in Disaster — which includes the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Southern Baptist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other nonprofits — said his organization exists to work alongside the government to “reduce suffering.”

Although there’s a “need for urgency” in these types of situations, Blake said there’s also a “time gap” between assessing each victim’s situation and getting them appropriate aid.

The recent flooding is “not a major disaster,” Blake said, but his group is doing what it can to help victims get their lives back.

The MARC is open through Friday from noon to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.slcsevereweather2017.com.