Chubbuck homeowners affected by flooding express frustration with city response

CHUBBUCK – After what was likely one of the worst water pipe breakages Chubbuck has seen, some affected homeowners have expressed frustration with the city’s response.

Last Thursday, a water pipe leak turned to a full-on break on Hawthorne Road, in between Bonanza Avenue and West Chubbuck Road, causing water to flood the road and flow into the yards of many residents, and the basements of some others. As those homeowners work with local contractors to assess and address the property damage, some have told EastIdahoNews.com that the city should take responsibility.

“We’re getting told that the city is not responsible … They’re saying, ‘Oh, well, it was an accident,’ and in my mind, accident or not, you still caused the damage, like you should still … take responsibility for what you did,” said Megan Fuller, a homeowner who’s yard and basement flooded on Thursday.

Mayor Kevin England has emphasized the accidental nature of the water pipe breakage and that the city has provided clear instructions on how to file a claim through the city’s insurer, but stated he has “compassion” for the affected homeowners.

“I have compassion that they ended up with the brunt of this damage,” England said. “It was an accident. Nobody did it on purpose.”

City staff first became aware of an issue with the water pipe at around 9 a.m. when water became “visible on the surface of the road,” indicating a leak from the water pipe, explained City Engineer and Public Works Director Bridger Morrison. This required a city crew to excavate the dirt around the pipe, which was installed in 1995, to repair the leak.

“As they were excavating down to and around the pipe to expose it, some rocks were disturbed, the material was removed, and the leak just got that much worse, very quickly,” Morrison said. He said that he wasn’t “aware of” any rocks falling and damaging the pipe in this process.

Sometime in the noon hour, water began to flood out of the trench into the street. Fuller was driving home from work at around 12:45 p.m. and saw that the water had flooded the street, but hadn’t yet flowed over the sidewalk. Earlier, her husband mentioned that the water in their house had stopped working.

“I think I know why the water is not working,” Fuller recounted telling her husband.

Fuller said she guesses she had been home for around 20 minutes before she saw that yard shared by her neighbor, Matthew Parkin, and the house next to his had filled with water. Morrison said it was around 1 p.m. when water began to flow out of the street.

Parkin was out of town at the time and first became aware of the flooding when his brother texted him to warn him.

“He then sends me a video, and it’s pretty bad. My whole backyard looks like a swimming pool,” Parkin said.

Parkin and his wife started to drive home, and then around a half hour into the drive, he got a call from his brother telling him that the windows were now broken, and water was pouring into the basement.

When Parkin arrived home, he found two feet of standing water in his basement. Fuller, who had just finished remodeling her basement, also saw her basement flood.

Parkin and Fuller have both voiced their discontent with the city not taking responsibility for the damage caused to their property by the flooding. Neither have an official estimation of how much it will cost to repair the widespread damage, but Fuller said she knows from her recent remodel that the carpet, padding and paint cost up to $15,000 alone.

“The issue is, we just want the city to make it right, and so far, they’re not making it an easy process,” Parkin said.

So far, the city has processed and submitted four claims to its insurance company on behalf of homeowners seeking coverage for property damage that resulted from the flooding. City Clerk Joey Bowers told EastIdahoNews.com that he’s also received two or three other phone calls from people inquiring about how to file a claim.

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England said the city has provided instructions to homeowners on how to file a claim through the city, and also instructed them to call Bowers if they have questions about the process.

“If you feel like the city has some liability in something that you experienced, you just come into the city, we give you a claim form, you fill that out and file it with the city. The City sends that to our insurer, and then they’re in charge of it from there,” England said.

At that point, the question of whether or not affected homeowners get compensation for their property damage is in the hands of the city’s insurance company, the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program. England did not feel like he was in the position to provide an estimation on when property owners’ claims reach a resolution.

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“This isn’t the first water pipe we’ve had break in the city. It was probably one of the worst. Why that is, I don’t know. … All I know is what the city is doing right now. We are cooperating with the powers that be and doing our parts to see that things get taken care of,” England said.

In the meantime, Parkin, Fuller, and other homeowners that were affected are working with restoration companies to repair the damage.

The flooding destroyed both Parkin and Fuller’s carpet, trim and lower drywall, as well as most of their furniture. Both will also need to have their bathrooms essentially gutted due to the water damage.

Not only that, but both of their window wells have been damaged in the flooding and will need to be replaced. Neither have been able to have a landscaper come to their property to access the damage to their yards yet.

Additionally, Parkin will need to have his basement windows replaced. Fuller will need to have the hardwood flooring in her basement replaced.

Beyond just property damage, the flooding has also caused complications for both families. One of Parkin’s daughters now has to sleep on the couch due to the flooding destroying her bedroom.

For Fuller, the flooding caused her son to be “terrified” for their safety.

“I have a five-year-old son who was terrified to the point that he was throwing up because he was so scared. He was kind of running around like, ‘we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die,’ (and) I have to calm him down, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK,’” Fuller recounted.

With the water still flowing in through his broken windows, Parkin’s neighbors acted swiftly to save items that an insurance company could never replace — their family scrapbooks. One of the rooms in their basement is his wife’s scrapbooking room, where she’s spent “tens of thousands” of hours preserving family memories, Parkin estimates.

In order to save the scrapbooks, Parkin’s neighbors formed a relay line to pass the materials upstairs.

“The stuff that they got was the stuff that’s not replaceable. Pictures of my kids when they were little, the drawings they did in kindergarten,” Parkin said.

Parkin said he would never be able to repay his neighbors for the actions they took on Thursday.

“That’s not something you teach people. That’s just something that they do, and we’re really appreciative of everybody who helped us,” Parkin said.