MELROSE, MASS. (WHDH) - Several Melrose residents were forced to leave their home when an underground blockage caused raw sewage to spew uncontrollably out of toilets in four homes on Thursday.
City workers responding to a call about a possible sewerage blockage on Brazil Street around 9:30 a.m. learned the main sewer line was blocked, resulting in a backup of the entire system, Melrose Mayor Gail Infurna said in a statement.
The bathrooms in four neighborhood homes were left covered in a river of filth and feces when the sewage suddenly poured out without warning.
Siliva Ortiz, who captured video of her toilet overflowing, says the mess has left a rancid stench in her home.
“I was getting ready for work and then I heard a bubble,” she said. “It was a crazy scene. It literally just spun and flowed out.”
Photos of the aftermath showed the entire bathroom coated in sewage.
“A tornado of poop started forming and started spewing out,” Ortiz added.
The newly-married Ortiz, who has lived on Brazil Street for four years, also found her wedding dress soaked in the sewage. She says it will likely take weeks to clean and repair her home.
“It destroyed everything. All of the floors, all the walls need to come out,” she said. “The whole bathroom has to be gutted.”
The blockage has since been repaired.
In a statement, Infurna said, “Our top priority right now is the safety and well-being of the residents of Brazil Street. I have directed my staff to assist residents with emergency accommodations and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The city is still working to determine what caused the blockage.
City workers responding to a call about a possible sewerage blockage on Brazil Street around 9:30 a.m. learned the main sewer line was blocked, resulting in a backup of the entire system, Melrose Mayor Gail Infurna said in a statement.
The bathrooms in four neighborhood homes were left covered in a river of filth and feces when the sewage suddenly poured out without warning.
Siliva Ortiz, who captured video of her toilet overflowing, says the mess has left a rancid stench in her home.
“I was getting ready for work and then I heard a bubble,” she said. “It was a crazy scene. It literally just spun and flowed out.”
Photos of the aftermath showed the entire bathroom coated in sewage.
“A tornado of poop started forming and started spewing out,” Ortiz added.
The newly-married Ortiz, who has lived on Brazil Street for four years, also found her wedding dress soaked in the sewage. She says it will likely take weeks to clean and repair her home.
“It destroyed everything. All of the floors, all the walls need to come out,” she said. “The whole bathroom has to be gutted.”
The blockage has since been repaired.
In a statement, Infurna said, “Our top priority right now is the safety and well-being of the residents of Brazil Street. I have directed my staff to assist residents with emergency accommodations and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The city is still working to determine what caused the blockage.
