ALBANY, GA (WALB) -
The smell of raw sewage was in the air at the corner of 11th Avenue and Hilltop Drive in Albany, Tuesday afternoon, after underground sewer pipes overflowed due to heavy rain.
Public Works crews were on hand to clean up the mess.
One homeowner affected by the flooded system said it was a sight to see.
"It just burst up like a fountain in two places of the yard. That amazed me," said Patricia Kalkavouras.
Kalkavouras' yard was flooded, some of the sewage making it to her crawl space.
Now she and her brother plan to pump the mess out of the yard themselves before major damage can be done to their home.
"I work so hard. It's 50 years of struggle working so hard trying to focus on retirement and sometimes you can't even reach that point because damage is done, said Kalkavouras.
Her next door neighbor showed us how she had to lay down towels in her home to prevent water from getting inside.
"It has had a little bit of a smell and you have to be careful when you flush the thing in your bathroom that you need daily. That's the bad thing," said Fran Blanford.
City Public Works officials say crews will work around the clock to clean sewage lines and are installing new equipment so events like this won't happen again.
"As we can, we go to these problem areas and run slip lining through, which eliminate cracks in pipes. We know what the problem is, we've identified them and working towards to repair them as we can," said Public Works Director Phil Roberson.
Blanford hopes the problem is fixed before overflowing water ruins her newly installed carpet.
"You pray. You pray and you hope it doesn't get wet and you don't have a smell," said Blanford.
Roberson told us his men are checking other areas in the city that may have the same problems and will install that new pipe lining.
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