Yonkers resident digs up basement to expose flood-causing culvert
The resident said he wanted to expose the culvert so city workers could see it for themselves.
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Friday's rainy weather had residents on one street in Yonkers worried that their homes would flood again.
Robert Lane resident Kevin Rooney said the rain actually causes him major pain.
"The PTSD and the stress are through the roof," Rooney said. "I cannot drive down the street when it rains without my heart racing."
Rooney said he gets anxious because his home and his neighbor's home flood when the rain gets intense.
He said he believes a box culvert running under their homes is to blame.
"The city denied that it was even there until we proved that it was there, and now we have also proved that it's blocked," Rooney said.
By "proved," Rooney's neighbor Ralph Saragiotis said he hired engineers to dig up his basement to expose the culvert so the city could see it for themselves.
Saragiotis said he doesn't like having the culvert exposed.
"No. It's nauseating. It smells of sewer all the time," Saragiotis said.
Saragiotis said workers from the city have come to inspect the culvert. However, Rooney said much more needs to be done.
"We want the city to simply maintain this system that they use to channel the storm water into the river and put it back to a functioning system that worked for the past 50 years," Rooney said.
City officials said they received a $50,000 grant to analyze the drainage system. Once the study is complete, they said they will apply for more grants to upgrade it.
In the meantime, both neighbors said they have spent over $100,000 combined fighting the issue.
"We are getting no help, whatsoever," Rooney said.
