Hundreds of homes in northwest Indiana flooded during heavy storms
Homeowners in northwest Indiana were cleaning up Tuesday, after heavy storms on Monday caused water to overflow from the sewer system into their basements.
Every few seconds in Hammond, spurts of water pour out of the basement Paulina Reillo and her husband finished only a year ago, as they pump out water that flooded it Monday night.
"Our dining room table, chairs, the couch for sure, all of the cabinets," all got wet during the storm.
No one expects their home to flood, but Reillo said she was really surprised, because they paid to seal their basement, along with other measures, to make sure this wouldn't happen.
"Those little gutters and everything to direct the water away from the house," she said. "We've got our sump pump in there."
At least 200 homes across Hammond were dealing with similar messes on Tuesday.
Intense rain on Monday night created a headache for people on the roads, too. Theodore Coules said he got stuck as water began to rise not far from the Indiana Toll Road. Coules flew his drone to assess the situation, and decided to stay put to stay safe.
Mother Nature didn't spare in nearby Whiting, either. The banquet hall took on at least an inch of water after its sump pump failed.
"We've taken great lengths to make this hall water-tight. We re-did the drainage back in 2019 from the roof on down, and it really solved most of the seepage problems, but some things you can't expect or plan for, like when a breaker breaks," Father Andrew Summerson said.
Father Summerson said the parish wants to make sure to get everything remediated, dried up, and dehumidified so no one notices on the main floor — where upcoming big events include a baby shower and a visit from the bishop.
"We have a huge Byzantine Catholic diocese — 12 states wide — so [the bishop] doesn't get out here as much as he'd like," Summerson said. "So he's going to be here this weekend, and we want to make sure everything is nice and tidy for him."
Approximately 400 miles of sewer pipes in northwest Indiana are controlled by the Hammond Sanitary District. Officials said their system is designed to handle 68 million gallons of water when it rains, but 160 million gallons came through during Monday night's storm. That's the most they've had in the past five years.
The Hammond Sanitary District offers a program to help prevent basement backups. Homeowners can get reimbursed $2,000 if they get a valve installed that shuts if backflow starts to build up in the sewer system. A licensed plumber must complete the job and file the proper paperwork. The average cost for a project like this is about $3,400 (before reimbursement).
