Haverhill officials are scrambling to help a homeowner displaced in May when a water main burst near his house flooding his basement with water and undermining his house’s foundation.
Wellington “Bill” Clark Jr. was sound asleep Wednesday, May 5, when city officials began banging on the door of his home at 15 Groveland St. around 3:30 a.m. to alert him to the unfolding disaster. Since then, the house has been condemned because it is on the verge of collapse and he has been living with friends and family.
Christine Lindberg, chief of staff to Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett, told WHAV, Veterans Services Director Jeffrey C. Hollett, and the city’s housing administrator, Andrew K. Herlihy, are working to find Clark a more permanent housing situation while his house is being repaired. Clark, 68, served in the U.S. Army.
She added repairing the house has become more complicated because both the city’s insurance company and Clark’s homeowner’s carrier declined to cover what is considered to be a random event. Lindberg said the city is not liable under a state law which holds communities harmless in a situation in which city workers were not actively working on the pipe and there was no evidence it might fail.
“We do understand that this was not Mr. Clark’s fault and we are doing what we can to help him,” Lindberg said. “We are very concerned, especially since he is a veteran.”
Lindberg explained the city’s engineering department has drawn up plans for temporary repairs to prevent the house from falling so that a structural engineer can get inside to see exactly what needs to be done to repair the foundation, stabilize it and put the house back in order.
In the meantime, Water Street traffic headed toward downtown is detoured around the house, on the corner of Groveland and Water Streets, because of the real possibility it could collapse into the street, Lindberg said.
Clark’s daughter, Jennifer Bowles, told WHAV the estimate to repair just the house’s foundation is $200,000. She said the basement filled with more than three feet of water and that several inches of dirt, debris, rocks and pieces of wood ended up underneath the house and are covering the basement’s concrete floor. The flood left a gaping eight-foot hole in the house’s foundation and, as well, as a long hole in the sidewalk next to the house that the city has covered with heavy metal plates. The heating system and electrical service will have to be replaced as well as some doors and windows, she said. Her father also lost his front stairs and his washer and dryer. Bowles added she expects mold is now growing inside.
“The denial by the city’s insurer was disappointing because my dad has done nothing wrong,” Bowles said, noting the house has been in her family for more than 100 years. Her grandfather bought it and then passed it to her father when he died. “My father pays his taxes. He pays his homeowner’s insurance and his water bill and he was awakened by this catastrophic event that has essentially made him homeless. It is very frustrating. These are very costly repairs.”
Bowles said she and her father are grateful to the city for taking some responsibility and helping where it can. She said state Rep. Andy X. Vargas is looking into grant programs that might provide some relief. Her father is also appealing the insurance denial.
She said not only is her father eager to get back in to the house as quickly as possible, but because the house now looks abandoned, vandals have begun throwing rocks through the windows.
Bowles, who lives in Manchester, N.H., said, her family has had to spend extra time visiting the house daily to make sure there isn’t more damage.