‘A miserable life’: Hamilton family left hanging after home damaged by water main break

When a 145-year-old watermain broke in east Hamilton in early September, water came rushing down the streets and right into people’s basements, leaving behind extensive damage.

At Senen and Rolando Reyes’ home, the damage forced the extended family members who lived in the basement rooms to move upstairs. Two months later, children and grandchildren are still sleeping in the living room, crowded into bedrooms, and all of them share one bathroom.

“Four, they are sleeping there [in the living room], with a cat,” Senen Reyes told CHCH News.

“My eldest daughter’s room, they have five people living here. […] We are like, fighting in the bathroom.”

Right now, there are thirteen people ranging in age over three generations living on one floor of a three-bedroom house.

“We’re all living in one level, It’s miserable life,” he says.

“I said to my son, I don’t want to go home.”

They say in neighbours’ houses, flood damage was fixed right away.

The Reyes’ say the City of Hamilton told them it would deal with the flood damage through their insurance company. They contacted their adjuster but say their insurance company didn’t act, right up to the point CHCH News spoke to them this week.

“It’s hard,” says Charlene Reyes.

“It’s frustrating. It’s been two months. My back is hurting because I’m sleeping on the floor.”

“It’s too hard to us,” Rolando added.

“Imagine 13 people living in one level of a house. I can’t take to see my son-in-law, my grand, my grandson sleeping on the floor, on the couch, so hard to me.”

“I keep calling somebody to help us,” said Senen.

“I feel like, why did we end up like this?”

Finally, they called CHCH News. Our team contacted the insurance company, Avida Canada, who said they were “sorry for the experience the Reyes family had” and “this is not the level of service [they] strive for.”

Things changed quickly after that, the Reyes family says. The company put the kids into a hotel, it’s replacing the furnace, they’re determining what to do with the mold in the basement, and are planning to fix the rest of the damage.

READ MORE: Streets, basements flooded after circa 1880 watermain breaks in Hamilton’s east end