As record-setting rainfall hit the D.C. region and left drivers stranded in high waters on Thursday, residents in D.C.’s Edgewood neighborhood were dealing with problems of their own: sewage water coming up through their pipes and flooding their basements, bathrooms, and kitchens.

Brentwood resident Jessica Sarstedt says she was just getting off a conference call for work around 2:30 p.m. when she heard water running in her basement.

“I sprinted down and it was spewing like a geyser out of the toilet and out of my floor drain,” she says. “There was debris in it, and leaves, it was brown and murky. The rate at which it was happening, I mean, I was screaming.”

At least 30 homes experienced some level of sewage water flooding their homes on Bryant and 3rd Streets NE, just off Rhode Island Ave., per Sarstedt. She says that she and her neighbors have been scrambling to figure out how to bail the water from their homes, remove anything that’s been touched by the sewage, and get in touch with city officials for assistance. Multiple residents tweeted about the flooding expressing their frustration and seeking answers.

https://twitter.com/WebbJennifer/status/1304216657917816832

The issue stems from sewage backups attributed to D.C.’s century-old sewer system. The city’s Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) is addressing the problem in the long term by digging 18 miles of tunnels through a court-mandated project to keep sewage out of the rivers and prevent major backups. The project has been largely a success so far, and the last tunnel is scheduled to open in 2030. The tunnel system — part of which runs through Northeast — contained much of the sewage overflow Thursday. But as streams rose up to eight feet in an hour in some parts of the area, the flooding simply overwhelmed the system.

“We have put in place many different flood-prevention options that are part of this tunnel system. But they can’t prevent everything,” says Vincent Morris, a DC Water spokesperson.

Morris says DC Water has a process for residents to file a claim and that the agency provides backflow preventer devices for residents who qualify. Ultimately, he says the tunnel system did what it was supposed to. “It diverted hundreds of millions of gallons and contained it and pumped it down to [DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant] to be treated and then discharged safely back into the Potomac River,” he says.

Sarstedt, 35, says she and other residents are aware of the progress made by the Clean Rivers project, but they want immediate assistance and aren’t satisfied with the city’s response so far. During a time when it’s unsafe to have strangers in their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sarstedt says she and her neighbors have had to call in a range of emergency services to prevent mold and long-term damage. Some don’t have the resources or flood insurance to cover the costs, she adds.

“What happened yesterday was a complete failure of the D.C. sewage system. I fully appreciate that D.C. Water is aware of the archaic system and they’re doing a multi-billion-dollar project to try and fix it,” Sarstedt says. “But what needs to happen is D.C. leadership to come out and address this community.”

Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who helped push for the Northeast Boundary Tunnel Project, says his office is responding to residents’ concerns and that his own mother experienced flooding Thursday. He says, however, that the focus should primarily be on the broader efforts to combat climate change.

“There’s been work already completed, and I think some residents thought that that was supposed to resolve all issues related to flooding. And the reality is, what we experienced yesterday was a record-setting rainfall,” McDuffie said when reached by phone. “Importantly, if that work would not have happened, perhaps things would have been worse. But also — even when the Clean Rivers project is completed — experts will tell you that it’s not the case that we will never experience record-setting rainfalls and flooding as a result of that.”

Wading in the sewage for an hour on Thursday, bailing debris out of her basement, Sarstedt wasn’t thinking about that. She was thinking about her neighbors, she says.

“This was not rain water coming through the back door. This was coming up through the toilet and up through the drains and our floors,” she says. “This is the entire neighborhood of Edgewood.”