‘They don’t care’; Cleveland woman wants city to pay for flooded basement caused by water department

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Imagine your entire basement flooding because of someone else’s mistake, and only being offered a fraction of the cost of the damages.

That’s what a woman says the city of Cleveland did to her last year, and she’s still waiting for them to make it right.

“They don’t care,” said Homeowner Mattie Williams.

92-year-old Cleveland Resident Mattie Williams is tired of being ignored.

She says Cleveland water crews hit her sewer line and flooded her basement back in April of last year, and she wants the proper reimbursement for what she lost.

Don’t let her age fool you, she remembers every detail of that day.

“I looked down there and water was above the second step,” said Williams.

She snapped a few pictures from the day it happened, but today, her carpets are pulled and her entire basement is bare.

Her washer, dryer, freezer, and dozens of her belongings were destroyed, along with the entire floor and some of the walls of her basement.

So she called the city of Cleveland, and they offered her $1,500, eventually bumping it to $2,000.

“I’m not signing that because I can’t get nothing with this,” said Williams.

Williams says that doesn’t even cover the cost of her washer and dryer.

“Everything here would be to replace what was down there,” Williams said, referring to a cost estimate from Lowe’s for more than $3,000.

And to redo her entire basement? More than $26,000, according to The Basement Guys. A fraction of what was offered.

And to make matters worse, Williams says she volunteered for the very administration she’s now fighting.

“When Bibb started the running, I worked my behind off helping him get in there,” said Williams.

So we tried calling his office to get the city’s side and got nowhere.

We left two voice messages, and were finally told someone would “get back with us.”

A frustrating outcome Thursday, but you can bet the 19 Troubleshooters will stay on it until Williams sees some action.

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