DENVER (KDVR) — One week after a water main break and flood occurred in the Berkeley neighborhood, the cleanup continues. Some homeowners are still unable to live in their homes and many still don’t know how they will pay for the cleanup or how much damage there really is.
Though the pipe is fixed and the road has been re-paved, about 50 homes and a dozen cars have water damage of some kind. Stacy Bramer’s insurance company is paying for her to live in a hotel right now while she is trying to sort through waterlogged items and wonders how and when things will get back to normal.
Problems persist for people who live in the Berkeley neighborhood.
“Currently, the basement is dry. It took about three days [to get all the water out],” said Bramer. “Of course, I wasn’t ready for this.”
Bramer had minimal decorations upstairs, meaning most of her belongings were carried away by water that came pouring in last Sunday.
“Everything else like my family photos and all of my degrees and paperwork from school,” Bramer said. “All my camping gear, suitcases, you know, where do you name it? It was down there.”
Drenched or dry, her days are now spent in her backyard cataloging all these items for insurance.
“It’s kind of an overwhelming task,” said Bramer. “There’s still so many unknowns and questions that I have.”
More concerns remain beyond just the cost of damaged belongings. She has mud all over the backyard and damage to the front yard. Not to mention the questionable deterioration of her home’s foundation and mold concerns.
“Right now it still smells terrible, it smells like dirt and it smells musty. The smell keeps changing daily,” Bramer said.
Most importantly for Bramer, she will try to salvage the other precious memories that got soaked. She read that waterlogged photos could be preserved in the freezer, she emotionally sorts through photo albums that she doesn’t want to be washed away.
A Denver Water spokesperson sent a statement:
As part of our emergency response and water mitigation services, Denver Water proactively went to each property and provided its restoration company for them to use. If a homeowner wants to use their own restoration company, we will reimburse them through our claims process. As homes are restored, an authorized professionally trained contractor will provide an estimate on the cost of restoring damaged uninsured property to its pre-flood condition that Denver Water will pay.
Denver Water
Additionally, Denver Water will offer a payment of up to $8,000 to cover uninsured personal property damage. This payment is also based on an estimate provided to Denver Water by its own authorized professionally trained contractor.
It’s also worth noting that if a vehicle is damaged and an insurance claim is made, Denver Water will also provide payment to cover the insurance policy deductible, up to $1,000. We’ve had about a dozen claims for vehicles. “