Funny you bring this up. The first house I owned by myself when I was around 24 was on a road where they decided to fix water mains right in front of my house. I was pretty broke, having scraped together everything to get into the house.
Well, they repaired it in the winter and ended up freezing and breaking the pipe that led into my house! Since it was on my property, they told me they would not fix it! I had no water for over a month while I fought city hall. I did not have five hundred dollars to fix it! Finally, I met a lawyer at a party and he liked me. He promptly beat city hall on my behalf the following day.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I can guess I know exactly what you went through.
Back in January 1996, the temperature rose above 50 for most of the day then dropped to below freezing. The snow melted suddenly causing severe flooding. My house was flooded from the front that day because of the creek. Underground water was rushing in from the back into my cellar. The two sump pumps could not keep up. I had to turn off the furnace and water pump just before the water reached them. For one week I was without heat or water. There wasn’t any snow left to melt for a cup of coffee! Looking back,I don’t know how I managed.
Meanwhile, the surface flood had eroded my driveway by the road. The gaping hole was about a foot deep and three feet wide spanning the width of the driveway. Fema came when the temps were below freezing and said there’s nothing wrong with my driveway since they could drive over it. The hole was filled with frozen flood water! They wouldn’t fix it but did send me a check for $250 to hire someone to clean my cellar. I didn’t cash it. I did have to replace the flooded furnace too.
Don’t you just love bureaucracy?