This archive report was first published on 1 December 2019.
On Saturday, a blocked pipe sent sewage flooding into 300 homes in a Queens neighborhood, causing extensive property damage and drawing a significant response from the Fire Department, utility crews, and multiple city agencies.
The sewer line failure occurred in the Jamaica section of Queens near the Belt Parkway and Kennedy Airport, with some workers using pressure hoses and vacuum trucks to break down the blockage on Sunday while others set up a bypass system to resume normal flow later in the day.
Homeowners reported that the sewage started backing up into their basements around 1 a.m. on Saturday, with some residents using sump pumps to try to bail out their homes. However, the slow and frustrating process seemed to reverse itself in some homes on Sunday as fatigue and a wintry combination of rain and snow set in.
"This morning, there was no water here," said Jaswinder Singh, who was in his nephew's flooded basement on Sunday as a diaper bag floated past. "You see the water is raising."
Some residents, like Cardell Hall, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, lost power on Saturday and were heating their homes with the kitchen oven. "It smells horrendous," Mr. Hall, 65, said of the sewage. "It was up to maybe my thighs. I just hope I don’t get sick from it."
Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter on Saturday night that city water crews were making repairs to the sewer main and were bringing in more pumping equipment to help with the cleanup.
The city's Department of Environmental Protection said the cause of the blockage was still under investigation, with the inquiry expected to focus on whether cooking grease had been poured down a drain and had congealed in the sewer line in the cold weather.
