Flooded Upper Nazareth Township homeowners want drainage issues solved

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Caring for a terminally ill spouse can be stressful.

Pile on top of that a flooded basement, and you have Becky Palen’s dilemma.

The Upper Nazareth Township resident said her basement at 3586 Neville Way flooded after Hurricane Irene then again from Tropical Storm Lee. Rainwater runs downhill into her yard and ends up in a valley with nowhere to go, she said.

She has had to leave her husband’s side to salvage photographs, mementos and family heirlooms being washed away in front of her eyes. She has had to replace her air conditioning unit and hot water tank twice.

"I'm never going to empty out if we don’t get some drainage here," Palen said. "I loved my home and now I feel like I don’t love my home anymore. I feel every time it rains, I’m going to be flooded again. I put my heart and soul into this home."

Five other Neville Way homeowners with similar issues say no one has offered to help them. They blame lack of proper drainage when the homes were constructed by DeLuca Homes about six years ago.

The homeowners say DeLuca Homes faces financial difficulties. Representatives of DeLuca Homes Thursday could not be reached for comment.

The homeowners also sought help from their homeowner’s association, ValleyWide Property Management. Jessica Walton, property manager at ValleyWide, declined comment when reached by phone.

Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Scott Sylvainus said DeLuca is responsible to fix the problem. He said township firefighters have been pumping out basements for several days.

While other homes in the development have drains constructed alongside their houses, Palen said her home does not. The neighboring homeowner, Jean Petion, with whom she shares a wall, often is not at home to help pump the water out of the back yard.

Petion claims he had been renting out the home and didn’t know his basement was flooded until Thursday. The last time he was at the house was last week, he said.

"It's pretty bad," Petion said, noting the water in his basement comes up to his hips.

Frances Hickert, who lives at 3590 Neville Way, said she fears the water in Palen’s yard will force its way into her neighboring house. Hickert and Palen had dug a ditch and laid down piping to collect the water, but it hasn’t helped much.

"Now, we have a little river," Hickert said.

Eric Bass, who lives at 3578 Neville Way, said he had two feet of water in his basement and fears additional flooding if the rain doesn’t let up.

"Someone has to do something," he said. "It's a health hazard. It's affecting a whole bunch of people."

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/09/flooded_upper_nazareth_homeown.html