FORT JENNINGS — When last Monday’s day-long rainfall was followed up by overnight storms, residents here were spared the dramatic flooding of those in Ottawa and Findlay. However, the village did not come away unscathed.
Most residents with basements had some flooding but one man was especially affected when raw sewage backed up into his basement bathroom toilet and shower. Sources say the village’s insurance company has denied the claim.
Tim Landwehr, 35, of 130 N. Charles St. lives at a corner where Fifth Street “T’s” into Charles Street and there is a drainage opening in the street near the “T.” Landwehr believes it could be larger but looks elsewhere when targeting his frustration.
“The sewage line should have been taken care of because they have alarms on it but nobody answered fast enough. If it were just water, we could have lived with it but the sewage issue really makes me angry, especially when the town’s insurance says they’re not liable,” he said.
Mayor Jim Smith says the village instructed all residents with damage to file a claim with the Ohio Plan, through whom the municipality has insurance.
“The Ohio Plan is a co-op for municipalities and they said because of it being a natural disaster, the village isn’t liable. I feel real bad for everybody. We’d like to be able to handle the water better and are planning some improvements,” Smith said.
The mayor indicated the village has scheduled for engineers to look at the system and make recommendations prior to council seeking grant money.
“Our maintenance man, Paul Kramer, told me we picked up water in the sewage system. It’s the excessive amount of rain that caused the backup; it’s unfortunate but that’s what happened,” the mayor said.
The mayor also stated he thought the claim would be covered under the village’s insurance policy but deferred determination to the company as would any other policy holder.
“The insurance company told us we didn’t do anything wrong. We just got hit by a bunch of water. That’s why they denied the claim. We are not trying to get out of anything, we just handed it over our insurance company,” Smith said.
Landwehr says he contacted the town’s insurance company and was told the claim was not a covered loss. His family used the basement as a “second living room” despite having had trouble in the past.
“We’ve lived here four years and have had the basement flood five times now. Our homeowners insurance only covers one claim each year and one year we had two claims so we had to eat one of them. I went to the village council to see why sewage is backing up into my house and they said it’s just because of the heavy rain and that the town’s insurance should cover it but the company said they aren’t liable,” he said.
He said his wife has contacted the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which has seen resources consumed with flooding in Ottawa and Findlay in recent days. Therefore, the agency has yet to address any determinations it may make concerning sewage backup in Fort Jennings, according to Landwehr.
“They told my wife they couldn’t deal with it right now,” he said.
The family’s basement has been cleared of contents after sewage was found everywhere.
“The computer desk is junk. We also lost a couch, toys and the kids’ furniture had sewage hanging from the bottom of their seats. We lost clothes, the stereo and other miscellaneous things. The flooring and bathroom sink needs replaced and so does the paneling. We will have to have it professionally sanitized before we can begin living down there again,” he said.
The heavy rains caused village officials and volunteers to spring to action Tuesday morning as volunteer firefighters helped residents extricate water from their basements.
“I applaud those guys. They were out I don’t know how long because of it,” Landwehr said.