Broken Water Main Sends Water Rushing Into Home Not Once, But Twice
DENVER (CBS4) - A Denver family is cleaning up after a water main in their neighborhood broke, again.
"It was amazing how much water, our entire back yard turned into a lake," Dugg Duggan said when talking about the first break in 2015.
Cell phone video of that flood shows it did not take long before when water started rushing inside the Duggan family's home.
"We have some glass windows where you could see it inching up on the windows foot after foot and then eventually just started squeezing through all the holes in the house," he said.
That water main is more than a block away from their Denver home that sits at the bottom of sloped neighborhood.
"The first time I felt like it was just bad luck, bad luck for Denver Water and bad luck for us," Duggan said.
Stacey Chesney is the spokesperson for Denver Water. She says they had a team at the families door soon after that break.
"We paid $77,000 to get that home restored and back in order, and then on top of that paid $8,000 for personal belongings," she said.
On Sunday, more than three years later, it happened again.
Another water main break in the same area as the first, sent water rushing into almost every room of the Duggan home.
"The water was here," Duggan said pointing to a water line on the wall. "The couches were floating and all the kids toys," he said.
While they have no time to waste when it comes to rebuilding, they want Denver Water to do more this time around.
"We absolutely feel for them in this situation. It's not what anyone wants to go through and that's why we are here to work with them and get their home back," Chesney said.
After walking through his home and having to sift through old pictures, Duggan says he is not even sure he knows what that will take.
"I have my babies, and they are okay, and I have got my family. That is the most important thing, but the second time around it does not feel very good," he said.
According to Chesney, Denver Water is not required to pay for any damage, but they have their own customer service policy in place that allows for some payment.
Eight thousand dollars is typically the cap for property loss, but Chesney says she is not sure how it will play out the second time around.
As far as insurance, Duggan says because the water came from outside, it is considered a flood and they did not have flood coverage.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.
