Homes in Bayside, Queens destroyed in flash floods
BAYSIDE, Queens (WABC) -- The storm has passed, but now the costly cleanup begins for homeowners.
In areas like Bayside, Queens, that were pummelled by drenching rain, residents fought an uphill battle keeping the water at bay.
It went up to their waist in certain areas.
"The neighbor came down because he heard my son screaming and we just handed him over to the neighbor and he was able to take him upstairs," Betsy Chavarria said.
The video of the flooding is utterly unbelievable.
The window in the basement apartment was pouring water like a spigot.
"The windows burst. We shut them so the water wouldn't come in but the pressure was so high the glass shattered and that's when we were like, we gotta get out of here," Chavarria said.
Video showed what it looked like outside of Chavarria's apartment during Thursday's flash floods in Queens.
Water came in from every which way.
"He was handing me stuff, like to bring out and I let go off this ledge right here, I was literally drowning. I couldn't touch the floor," Chavarria said.
"This whole area was full of water was ten feet deep. If it was clean water you could dive right into it." Andres Guerra said.
Next door at the Guerra family home on 216th Street, another basement was destroyed.
The entire floor was underwater and debris was on the ceiling.
The family says their flooded basement has been an ongoing problem for more than 15 years on their dead-end street that borders the Port Washington line of the Long Island Rail Road.
"You get all of the Queens backup sewage, so you smell everybody's stool and everything here," Tatiana Guerra said.
Both families are trying to pick up the pieces on Friday.
Chavarria's apartment is trashed from the ceiling to the floor.
The remnants in Guerra's basement look just as contaminated as the walls of a dumpster.
"We installed a $10,000 system and we were waiting for a day like this to see if it worked. But it doesn't matter what you install. Until the city fixes that sewer issue, we're all gonna get hit when we get hit with flash floods."Guerra said.
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