'I Can't Live Like This': Northbridge Homeowner Hit With Major Flooding In Storm
NORTHBRIDGE (CBS) -- Some residents in Northbridge found their backyards and parts of their homes under water Thursday morning.
Water pumps were pumping away in Whitinsville. Janice Pepka watched as water started flowing down both sides in her home.
"Do I have waterfront property now?" Pepka said. "I don't want to make a joke of it, but it's just what happens."
As bad as it looks in her backyard, her basement took on even more water.
"This is the worst, because it's the most I've had in the basement," said Pepka. "Stuff is floating around down there."
After spending the week frantically following Ida, fearing the storm would come to her area next, Pepka's tenant called her in the middle of the night.
"I was up all night, and then I think I might have fallen asleep for an hour. And then he called me and said, 'Jan, it's worse than ever,'" she told WBZ-TV.
In other parts of Worcester County, overflowing water was shooting up into the streets through sewers. Several cars were stalled out keeping tow trucks and DPW crews busy all night and into the morning.
Back in Whitinsville, Pepka is frustrated because she feels the root of the problem is beyond her control.
"Ever since they did the deforestation up there, I've had this issue," said Pepka. "Everybody is passing the buck. I don't know if anybody can help me."
And in the 40 years she's lived here, she's never seen anything like this.
"It's just, I don't know what we can do about it, but I can't live like this," said Pepka.
The Fire Department is helping some of these neighbors get the water out of their homes. What's next to figure out is how to prevent this from happening again.
