“Total [of] The poop of Penticton came into my house.’ While dozens of people were dealing with flooding during Monday’s storm, a group of Penticton homes were dealing with sewage from the heavy rain. Mandeep Sidhu was home alone on Monday when she heard the sound of water coming from somewhere. “As soon as I opened my door, I saw that there was flooding everywhere and not just rainwater. The water came from the toilet, from the sink, from the drain, from the shower from the bathtub. The water was below my knee. And there was poop all over my house,” Sidhu said. She ran next door to see if it was just her house that was flooding, but found that both of the neighbors’ basements had also begun to fill with sewage. Mandeep, her husband Param Vinder Sidhu and his parents spent the next five hours trying to pump the water out of the house. “I have rashes all over my body from dealing with this dirty water,” she said. “All my furniture, all the precious things of my love, like my lovely things, my wedding dress are gone. I can’t take it back. All the toys, my daughter has a playroom downstairs and now all her favorite toys are gone.’ Emergency assistance has been provided by the Red Cross for the family in recent days as they deal with their insurance and their adjuster trying to figure out what’s next and what’s covered. “We try really hard to be strong, but at the same time it just bothers us,” Param Vinder said. “The other problem we will face is the financial problem. Because we are freelancers, we work from home and have a hair salon. And now that we can’t operate it.” “They say, ‘Oh, you have insurance.’ I know there is security. That’s just the money. This is just a number. No one can replace these feelings and emotions. That moment when we saw this cocoa floating in our house. This was a heartbreaking moment for us,” added Mandeep. The couple is at their home every day from sunup to sundown, hauling in what they can salvage and what needs to be disposed of. Their two-year-old daughter must stay at the hotel, for now, cared for by her grandparents while they heal the damage. “I don’t want my daughter to be here because as you can see they throw everything in my garden. So all this is tainted,” Mandeep said. The family worries about when they can return home and whether it will actually be clean enough. “You’re dealing with septic water, you’re dealing with vermin. I don’t know what’s in that dirty water. It’s contagious. It’s contaminated. It is not good for your health. It’s not good for your lungs. You should not live in such an environment,” said Mandeep. The house still reeks of sewage going in and is waiting to be deep cleaned after everything is moved in by the restoration company. The Sidhus want to see the city install proper sewer fixes so this doesn’t happen to them or anyone else again. Emergency Operations Center director Anthony Haddad said any solutions involving private property are something that should be considered by the individual property owner. “But as with any major rain event, in the community, we’ll be looking at all of our public infrastructure and if there are areas that can be updated or improved, then that’s something we’ll certainly be looking at as things move forward. ” he said. “The city and public works crews are still looking at a lot of the public impacted infrastructure throughout the community, which is obviously mostly dry, but looking at where any kind of damage has occurred and looking at what can be improved for the future”. The houses have restricted use access that are currently posted as they are deemed “unfit for work due to biohazard,” which will be removed after the restoration companies have completed their work and the City of Penticton has deemed them safe. “I don’t know how long it will take to renovate our house, we still have to pay for the mortgage, all the bills, all the electricity they use,” Mandeep said. “To the community, all I want to say is if someone can come and help us with little things, some kids toys or some food or even come and talk to us, that will be really helpful for us. For someone to calm us down and say, ‘Hey, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay,’” added Param Vinder. While the family is stressed and overwhelmed by what they are going through, they also express compassion and concern for their neighbor who is dealing with the same issue of flooding without insurance. Anyone who can help is asked to contact the Sidhus at [email protected]
