Residents were horrified when sewage flooded their homes in The Villages.
Five homes in the Village of Hawkins were impacted Sunday morning by the sewage backup.
Beth LaRocca who lives at 5684 Matanzas Loop first heard a bubbling noise as she was about to get out of bed around 8 a.m. She went into the bathroom and noticed the water in the toilet was bubbling. When the toilet was flushed it filled up almost to the rim. She then went into her kitchen where she heard some bubbling noise coming from the garbage disposal. When she got in the shower all seemed normal until she noticed that a brown-covered substance was starting to ooze up in the shower.
Soon the bathroom floor was starting to fill up. Beth grabbed a bucket and along with her husband Anthony started to attack the flood. Anthony had recently had surgery on his foot and was using a scooter which kept the injured leg elevated as he maneuvered the scooter while pushing the water with a broom and towels. Neighbors also pitched in to help them battle the flood using towels and moving items off the floor and into the garage. As the LaRoccas and their neighbors battled the flood, they noticed a floating wood floor had water coming out of the seams.
The LaRoccas called their next door neighbors who they knew were up north to see if they wanted them to check on their house. When they went into the house they found that every room in the house had one to two inches of sewage. Anthony called Servpro for his neighbor.
The Villages Utilities Department had a pumper truck on the scene, but did not have the equipment to help the homeowners with the clean up of their homes.
A pipe failure had occurred at the intersection of Melvin Drive and Matanzas Loop, leading to the sewage backup.