Alberton residence falls victim to flooding

ALBERTON – As snow melts in warming temperatures, flooding has been a concern in parts of the community and one Alberton resident has already become a casualty of water overflowing the drains.

According to Yvonne Manes, an Alberton resident, she left her home on Thursday, March 6, and everything was fine. When she returned at 6 p.m., the melting snow had begun to fill her yard right up to the front door. Eventually, the basement crawlspace was filled with water as well.

“When I opened the door to the crawlspace, the water was to the top in there,” Manes said.

Because it was not turned off in time, her water heater was ruined by the flood and Manes was without hot water for over a week. Her neighbors allowed her to use their shower until she was able to make it to Missoula to get a new one.

To empty her crawlspace, Manes needed to buy a sub pump and spent two days working to remove the water. She has also needed to buy a dehumidifier to dry the space faster.

According to Manes, the cause of the problem is the drainage system not working correctly. She said the drains are so clogged with debris, the water cannot go anywhere. As a result, the water running down the hill backed up to her house when it could not go through the drain.

Manes is not the only one suffering from the issue. Her neighbor across the street had water almost up to their house as well. She said if the water had run slightly differently on its way down the hill, it would have flooded the neighbor instead of her.

“It’s a problem that needs to be taken care of,” Manes said. “Awareness I guess is the only way and…making sure the city and the DOT take care of this kind of thing.”

Adding to her complaint about the issue is the apparent lack of concern about the problem. Manes said the drains have been an ongoing complaint among her neighbors, but nobody seems willing to take responsibility. She said the town, county and city offices all said it was one of the other’s responsibility to take care of the drains.

“The whole time I was cleaning up my stuff, trying to get the water out of my house, I did not see one county worker, state worker, no truck or anything trying to open these drains up,” Manes said.

She felt there should be a worker somewhere who could come out with a truck to suck up the water and clear out the drains. While she is not sure if anyone else has tried to contact the DOT, the lack of response has been a problem for her.

Covering everything, the ordeal has cost her over $1,000 to repair the damage to her home. She does not know if there is a way to be reimbursed and has already looked into some options, which turned out to be dead ends.

Since the incident, Manes has looked into flood insurance but found it is not available. She checked with her home insurance provider who looked into other companies and discovered the Alberton area does not get flood insurance coverage of any kind.

“So, I’m out of luck,” Manes said. “If the state or the town of Alberton don’t get this drain thing fixed, this is going to be an every year occurrence.”

While Manes does not expect to be reimbursed at this point, she feels it would be nice for DOT to make up for the problems. She believes this could be done by clearing the drain or changing the water flow so it avoids houses. The main thing she wants to see is some accountability, on the state’s part, for getting the drains working.

“The drains need to be working properly,” Manes said. “All drains. That’s what I want, for the drains to work. Resolution – so next year my house will not flood again because the drainage system will be working properly.”

Manes plans to take her case to the town council meeting at the start of April.