LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Louisville homeowner is looking at more than $10,000 worth of damage after six feet of sewer water from Louisville Metro Sewer District's system backed up into her home.
Imagine sewer water overflowing into your home every time Jefferson County experiences heavy rain. That has happened to Rogerie Jerome twice since last month.
"There was toilet paper floating around in the sewage water," Jerome said. "When you're driving around in the West End, unfortunately, that smell was in my house."
Jerome has been living in her home for five years. Her basement filled with sewage water for the first time in 2021.Â
As a new homeowner in the area, she was completely unaware that the overflow was sewage water from MSD's main sewer system until an employee came out to service her home.
Jerome said the employee informed her about a Plumbing Modification Program that MSD offered. The program covered the cost for homeowners to get sump pumps installed.
Because her home never flooded with sewer water again after that, she thought it was a one off.Â
In July, after heavy rains on the 11th and 22nd, her basement filled with sewage water back-to-back, throwing her for a whirlwind.
"I believed that my basement was a safe space to leave my diplomas memorabilia childhood memories belongings that actually came from my father who recently passed have not gotten ruined," Jerome said.
After the sewage overflow issues, Jerome said she called and emailed MSD inquiring about the Plumbing Modification Program, an MSD representative told her it was suspended last December due to budget cuts.
"It's their system. It's their system's failures," she said.
The sewer overflow issues are known problems within MSD.
They often send out Sewer Overflow Advisories, telling people to avoid contact with the water and warning that it's filled with stormwater contaminants that can make you sick.
"That's wild to me. That's insane," Jerome said.
She said in hindsight, she wishes that she would have used the program after sewer water backed up into her basement the first time.
MSD issued a statement explaining what causes the issues.
"During periods of exceptionally heavy rainfall, the volume of water entering the combined sewer system can exceed its capacity, which can lead to backups in some areas. These incidents are the result of extraordinary amounts of rainfall and do not indicate a failure or malfunction of the system," a spokesperson for MSD wrote.
The spokesperson said through the former Plumbing Modification Program, MSD invested approximately $50 million to assist more than 20,000 households over two decades.Â
Representatives from MSD said the program was ended to reallocate funding towards investments in community-wide solutions that will better address the sewer issues.
"MSD is prioritizing investments that address the issue at a larger scale, including enhancements to the drainage network, increased underground storage capacity such as the Waterway Protection Tunnel, and other systemwide solutions," the spokesperson wrote.
Although MSD is working towards improving the issues, the $30 million in capital projects won't happen immediately.
These projects will be completed over the next five years, leaving homeowners like Jerome with an immediate issue to resolve on their own.
"While those investments are designed to reduce the risk of backups across the community, we recognize that they do not provide an immediate solution for every individual property experiencing a backup today," the spokesperson wrote. "Our focus is on both responding to current issues where appropriate and making strategic investments that will provide the greatest long-term protection for the community at large."
 Jerome said she started a Facebook group, finding 17 other homeowners with the same issue.
"You're now telling the residents that now 'too bad' and we have to pay to fix for it and also pay to get it cleaned up on your own," she said.
Jerome said MSD also did not offer any instructions on how to disinfect her home after the sewer overflow issues. She said she feels like MSD is responsible for the many damages to her home, regardless of why they ended the PMP program.
Jerome said sewer water has seeped into her furnace, water heater, and has left mold in her dry wall. She was quoted $5,000 to fix the dry wall and $5,000 to get a sump pump installed.Â
She also lost several personal items, clothes and machinery for her business that she had to file a home insurance claim for. The home insurance payout was only $5,000.
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