By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — It could be said that Debra Beaman just wants her basement back.
The resident of Poplar Street in Plymouth — and her husband — shared their frustration with the city’s Sanitary Board of Trustees over damage incurred in flooding events at the beginning of the year.
The Beaman’s house sits near a retention pond which during the second flooding event overflowed its banks causing a number of problems in the area. One of those was to the sewer lines in the area resulting in sewer water getting into the basement. City crews responded to the problem and repaired the sewer but not before significant damage was incurred by the Beamans.

They were advised to document expenses and damage to request reimbursement from the Federal Environmental Management Agency for the clean up. That’s when the problem started.
FEMA advised the Beamans they were not eligible for money since they had insurance. Their insurance carrier informed them that they had no flood rider on their policy and were therefore denied on their claim.
From there, they filed a claim against the insurance carrier for the city of Plymouth for the damages, which was denied since the water causing the problem was determined to be surface water from the retention pond.
Then it was back to FEMA who denied the claim again saying the Beamans had suffered insufficient damage for a claim. Since the cost of clean up was in the neighborhood of $17,000 it led the Beaman’s to question just how much was sufficient.
The frustration of doing what was asked of them led the Beamans to the Sanitary Board with a plea for the city to reimburse the clean up since it was caused by sewer water.
The Sanitary Board voted not to reimburse the couple since the city did perform due diligence in the sewer repair as soon as they were aware of the problem.
Now it appears it’s back to FEMA for the Beamans.
The Beamans had already filed a letter contending the agency’s ruling of insufficient damage.