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City of Detroit helping 80-year-old woman who had raw sewage in her basement, family says

Victims of June flooding on edge over forecast of more heavy rain this weekend

DETROIT – It’s been a roller coaster for Donna Marks, Damita Pitman and their 80-year-old aunt, Rosetta.

Pitman and her aunt went from living in a home on Carpenter Street with raw sewage filling their basement, to getting help from the city of Detroit to take care of the problem.

“I’m feeling a lot better because we were hopeless,” Pitman said.

The city’s Community Health Corps was able to provide temporary alternative housing for the two women, but 80-year-old Rosetta is now under a doctor’s care in the hospital.

Read: Family says elderly woman’s basement flooded with raw sewage in Detroit

“She was dehydrated,” Pitman said.

Members of the American Red Cross also came by to make sure everything was fine. Thankfully, the 80-year-old is expected to be OK.

“The city of Detroit, they jumped in and they helped us. They provided us a place to stay. They got the water up. I know it’s a process,” Pitman said.

Now that all of the water is gone, plans are being made to have the leftover sewage and mold cleaned as well.

But multiple inches of rain are expected to head to Metro Detroit for the weekend.

“With all the rain coming, are we going to repeat ourselves?” Marks said.

“I’m thinking about that, but I’m not going to dwell on it,” Pitman said.

Either way, the family is happy at the progress that has already been made.

“There’s more rain coming but there’s help out there that we didn’t know about. Just don’t give up. That’s all I can say,” Pitman said.

The city is asking everyone to be patient as they try to help out as many people as possible.

The opportunity to make a claim to your local municipality for damage caused by flooding is capped at 45 days. That means the last day to make a claim for the last major flooding is Aug. 9. Click here to fill out a form.

Metro Detroit weather: Tracking multiple rounds of rain


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About the Author
Victor Williams headshot

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.

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