Basements are muddy mess

Josh Shannon rushed home from work, slid his key into the lock and saw something odd. His basement light , left on, shined through a hole in the front yard.

It didn't fully register why he could see the inside from the outside until Shannon walked into his basement at 1314 Jaynes St. Then the reality of Monday's pelting rains hit like the concrete blocks that lay scattered in the muddy muck of what had been his smooth basement floor

Rain and dirt poured through a gaping hole in the south wall. Shannon ran upstairs and then back down, then upstairs and back down,

"I was going around in circles," said the electrician, who is renovating the three-bedroom ranch in east Omaha for his coming marriage. "I was just going insane."

As residents of Hallam, Neb., and other Midlands communities hit hard by a spate of weekend tornadoes slogged through tedious cleanup, some Omahans faced a mess of their own. Wet basements. Sewagefilled basements. Basements with caved-in walls.

The series of storms caused water problems across Omaha. The American Red Cross Heartland Chapter was responding to residents at 40 north Omaha homes damaged by flooding.

The City of Omaha fielded 32 calls on a single day from residents generally east of 42nd Street whose sewers had backed up. At least six residents had called the Douglas County Emergency Management office about partial or total wall caveins. Others have dealt with less serious leaks. giving brisk business to Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner and other companies that can help dry out drenched basement carpets.

Chris Mitchell, a Stanley Steemer manager, said most of the calls have come from homeowners east of 72nd Street. Many of the problems are from water coming through window wells or seeping under walls, Mitchell said. Flooding even occurred in older parts of town where the city has improved and replaced sewers, separating storm channels from those that carry waste.

Nann Jackman, public works director, said the rains were so heavy there was flooding in areas where the city had already replaced sewers. such as 17th Street and Ames Avenue and at 49th and Emmet Streets.

"It compounds itself," said Jackman. "Once it rains and the ground is saturated, the next rainstorm won't percolate into the earth. We had a storm that overcame the capacity of the storm sewers. We're still going to have those types of storms."

Even so, Josh Shannon doesn't plan to give up on his house, the first house he has ever owned. He has laid ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathroom, spread crisp tan carpet in the bedroom, hung new doors, refinished kitcben cabinets and installed a new pedestal sink, toilet and tub. He has painted pink the room where his fiancee's daughter will sleep. The couple's son will have a room painted yellow and navy blue with a colorful wallpaper border of suns and stars, Shannon, 24, has tapped family and friends to help shore up the basement for now. He is working with the City Planning Department to try to fix the damage and keep his house.

A city rehabilitation specialist said Shannon probably will need more help than the $5,000 maximum the city could provide if he Qualifies. Emergency management officials have referred him, as they are doing others, to the American Red Cross.

There's a slight chance that Douglas County could qualify for some federal funds, said Steve Lee, director of the Douglas County Emergency Management Agency.

The devastation caused by weekend tornadoes has earned Nebraska's Lancaster, Cass, Gage and Saline Counties federal emergency funds. Adjoining counties also might get some federal funds if the government deems they had enough damage, said Lee, though he seemed doubtful it would happen.

Even so, Lee urged residents of flood-damaged homes to contact the American Red Cross and the toll-free Federal Emergency Management Agency number to at least register in the event the county Qualifies. Shannon, who has no flood insurance, remains hopeful. "It's not going anywhere," he said of his house, "I'm not going anywhere, l'm staying here. l've invested way too much." World-Herald staff writer C. David Kotok contributed to this report.