State and local leaders are trying to do more to help the families who live along Jobs Pond in Portland and are experiencing severe flooding.
Environmentalists say the flooding is due to heavy rainfall and because Jobs Pond doesn’t have an outlet to properly drain the water -- meaning, when water gets in, it gets stuck.
"I think I'm only like three feet away from my basement being completely flooded, and we have the highest foundation,” said Andrej Lipski of Portland.
Lipski’s backyard is partially underwater, and he’s noticing neighbors’ canoes wash up on his property. He’s also concerned about losing his back porch if the ground gets too wet.
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The flooding has also cost his family a lot of money.
“Over $10,000 thousand dollars because of the sump pumps. The water levels are so high right now that they’re basically pushing water through the seams,” said Lipski.
In total, 19 homes have been affected, and of those, seven families have been forced out. State and local leaders spoke with residents and toured the neighborhood on Wednesday.
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"It really involves your finances, your quality of life, and environmental values that we all share,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
It was Blumenthal's first time visiting the area. He says he aims to get federal funding to stop the flooding and protect people's homes and property.
“I want to see what we can do to remedy the kinds of flooding that makes life unbearable and unacceptable for folks who live on Jobs Pond,” said Blumenthal.
Laura Marks is afraid she’ll lose her house to flooding. In 2017, she tragically lost the house in a fire.
“Our home is now ‘one with the pond,’” said Marks.
Marks says there is more than two feet of water in her basement, and she wants the state to step in.
"We just want people to put themselves in our shoes who are decision makers that, you know, can get this moving,” Marks said.
The state mentioned pumping some of the water out of the pond. This was done in 1984 when the area had a similar flooding issue. Experts say 1,500 gallons of water per minute were pumped into the Connecticut River, which took months.
Environmentalists also say they want to explore a watershed plan with the town of Portland and find a way to create an outlet. Right now, experts are still assessing the damage and figuring out how much this will all cost.
