DETROIT – Larry and Regina Mahomes are both military veterans living in Detroit’s Morningside neighborhood.
The east side neighborhood was hit especially hard by the floods and left their residence full of raw sewage. The damage might not look too bad from the outside, but inside it’s a nightmare.
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They said they’re desperate and they worry it might not be safe to live in.
“You can’t live in this. It’s impossible,” Larry Mahomes said.
The couple were in the process of turning their basement into a second bedroom. After the storms, it’s filled with water. Their belongings -- including the ashes of a loved one -- are now sitting in the damp basement. Bugs attracted to the mess have started to migrate to other parts of the home.
“This is crazy. Nobody’s come out to help us,” Regina Mahomes said. “We’ve called Red Cross. We’ve called VA.”
Both Mahomes are veterans -- Regina served in the army and Larry in the marines -- and they both have injuries that prevent them from cleaning the basement themselves.
“We don’t know what else to do. This is really hurtful,” Regina said.
They said they reached out to the city, their council member and Rep. Brenda Lawrence during her visit Thursday. So far, there has been no visit from FEMA and when they called Detroit’s hotline, they were told the cleanup was finished.
The couple are left waiting without anyplace to go, but knowing they can’t stay at home.
“This house is unlivable,” Larry said. “It’s unlivable.”
The couple said an insurance adjuster came out, but they’re only getting a fraction of the cost of their losses back.