Ocoee resident wants city to pay up for flooded townhome

OCOEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - An elderly couple says they're getting ready to sue the City of Ocoee for the cash they'll need to fix their home.

Alex Simon took us into his bathroom and pointed out where the sewage was spilling out onto the floor.

"It was the seal between the toilet and the floor," he said. "This is where the water was leaking. Since then, we've had it sealed. Water was flowing out this way, flowing through here."

He and his wife, Irene, were sitting at home more than a month ago when it all happened. 

"Thoroughly confused and kinda scared because I didn't know what the heck's going on," he said.

Simon said they frantically tried to soak it up. 

"We had all our towels on the floor to absorb the water, about 80 towel sets on the floor," Simon said.

Soon, the sewage started flowing into the bathtub. 

"That's when the smell came, when that brown stuff came up into the bathtub," he said.

Simon had a city report on the spill. 

It stated the nearby lift station failed while contractors were working on it. 

According to the incident report, the pump failed, sending sewage up unto the Simon's home.

Since then, the Simon's have been trying to get back to normal, but it hasn't been easy. 

A restoration company dried out the apartment and ripped up the dirty carpet. 

Simon and his wife, though, both got infections from the leak that sent them to the hospital. 

A month later, they still need to replace carpeting, drywall and cabinets, costing tens of thousands of dollars that they don't have.

"We're gonna end up going to court and have a judge get some kind of relief," Simon said.

Fox 35 spoke with the contractor GML Coatings.

Workers there say they're aware of the problem and will work to fix it. 

When we asked for specifics on that, the GML foreman didn't have an immediate answer. 

The City of Ocoee didn’t have any comment on the situation.