Bellingham renters ‘devastated’ after sewer back up, and ‘no one is coming to help us’
Bellingham resident Shelby Welch thought nothing could be worse than coming home to the Cordata neighborhood apartment she’s lived in for more than four years to find it flooded with raw sewage.
But the frustration she’s felt since that unpleasant discovery Tuesday evening, Sept. 21, resulting from a lack of assistance she and other tenants have received since the sewer back-up has been even worse, she said.
“You could smell it as soon as you walked in — it was absolutely foul,” Welch told The Bellingham Herald on Thursday, Sept. 23. “There was water overflowing the toilets and coming up through the floor, through the carpets and where the toilet meets the ground. It was coming from the shower. We had two inches of sewer water in the hallway, under the living room and underneath the laundry.
“We destroyed every towel I own trying to keep it from spreading to other parts of the house, but it went under the laminate to other parts. And my apartment wasn’t the worst. ... This was raw sewage — fecal matter, toilet paper and everything.”
The Bellingham Public Works Department was contacted about the backup at The Meadows by Vintage apartment complex late Tuesday afternoon, spokesperson Amy Cloud told The Herald in an email.
“We responded, checked the City system, and discovered that the problem occurred on private property and is the property owner’s to resolve,” Cloud wrote.
Public Works continued to provide all the support and guidance it could, according to Cloud, including inspecting the sewer to find the source of the problem.
Though Cloud reported that the complex manager and owner had been “engaged since the outset and are actively working to get it resolved,” Welch said she and other residents have received no help from the complex.
“They haven’t helped us with anything,” Welch said. “They just stood by and watched us move things out. They haven’t helped us find storage for our belongings. They didn’t help us find hotels to stay in. They say they’re not going to reimburse us for hotels even though we can’t stay there because it’s a bio-hazard.”
Welch’s apartment was one of six that was flooded, she said, impacting an estimated 20 or more residents. But water also had to be turned off to other units in the complex until approximately noon Thursday, Welch said, adding that the sewer water backed up into at least two buildings in the complex.
Welch set up a GoFundMe.com account to help her family. Other families have done the same, including Jennifer Neustedt and Tammy Caulfield.
The Meadows by Vintage advertises as having 101 three- and four-bedroom units, according to its website.
The Herald reached out for comment from the complex and left a message with a member of the office staff, but the message has not been returned.
‘I’m devastated’
Welch said that she spoke to the complex manager and was told that tenants will not be reimbursed for hotel stays or destroyed property because they were advised to get renter’s insurance when they moved in.
But even those who do have renter’s insurance may not be covered.
According to American Family Insurance’s website, “your renter’s insurance won’t cover your personal property should a sewer backup occur.” The website recommended purchasing sewer backup, septic backup and sump overflow coverage in addition to standard renter’s policies.
Welch said she expects to lose most everything that was in her apartment, from her family’s beds to its clothes. and without insurance, she says she’s beyond worried.
“I’m devastated,” Welch said. “I’m fighting for my family and I somehow ended up fighting for people in the complex — neighbors that are sick and can’t use the toilet because they had to turn off the water and mother’s who can’t give their babies water.”
Welch said the complex did not bring in portable toilets for those that were able to stay in their apartments and had no water for nearly 48 hours.
Meanwhile she and her family — including her infant daughter, her kindergarten son and the family dog — are sitting in a hotel room until they are allowed back into their apartment or can find somewhere else to go.
That’s something that likely won’t be coming anytime soon, as she’s been told doors, walls, carpeting and flooring will need to be replaced.
Without getting assistance from the apartment complex, Welch says she’s called everyone in the city she can think of, even the mayor’s office, but nobody has been able to help.
“I’m scared,” Welch said. “I work weekends, and my partner is an ER tech. We don’t have money to stay in a hotel. I’m using my credit card, which is only for emergency, and we’re cramped in this tiny hotel room, and nobody seems to be able to help us.
“Everybody keeps saying there is nothing they can do, and no one is coming to help us.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 8:12 AM.
