GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Months after a water main break on Grand Rapids’ southeast side affected nearly 200 homes, neighbors in the area told News 8 they’re still dealing with the repercussions.

The water main broke June 13 at the intersection of Adams Street SE and Philadelphia Avenue SE, flooding the neighborhood. Grand Rapids has said it is not liable for the damages caused by the flood and would not reimburse residents.

The city recommended neighbors obtain legal representation to move further in the process. While neighbors did hire representation, they told News 8 the legal process has been moving slowly, but their issues from the water main break have not.

With the first snow of the season in Grand Rapids this week, the challenges have continued to mount.

Water main break victim Larry Gibbs lives off Allerton Avenue in the impacted neighborhood. He said every time it rains or snow, it seeps into his basement.

“I’m not going to be able to keep all of that snow away from the house, so after that, once it warms up a little bit, that snow melts and it turns into slush and water. It is going to run like crazy,” he told News 8. “I am going to have puddles of water down here when that snow melts.”

He said the temperature change has brought “a whole lot.”

“When it (the rain) comes down really hard, you can get right up to this wall, and you can see rain just drizzle down all the way here,” Gibbs explained. “Then, it’ll make its way, and you can see where it’s actually still damp there. It’ll make its way down here, and then it’ll just sit.”

Just a few doors down from Gibbs’ home, neighbors are dealing with the same problem.

Tom Schurino and Jane Griffioen live just doors down from Gibbs and said their basement is “unusable.”

“Come on, city. Just stop and do something and no more excuses. I’m done with all their offerings that are no good,” Griffioen told News 8.

Neighbors say they continue to be in the dark as nothing gets fixed.

“Right before the holidays, we are going through it. Other people are going to be, you know, celebrating with their family and stuff like that. We will have this on our mind,” Gibbs said. “We are still at stage one. We haven’t gotten anywhere. The system wasn’t built to help us, it was built to break us.”

Gibbs believes the system has failed him and his neighbors. 

“You’ve got new developments being put in, all across all over the place. You have a whole community over here of 14 individuals that is in crisis mode, who have paid taxes. We’ve paid our city taxes. Where’s your guys’ empathy for us?” he said. “It doesn’t seem right for the city to leave us behind like this.”

News 8 reached out to the city of Grand Rapids for comment. The city responded, saying that it was in contact with its legal representation and could not comment further because it was an ongoing legal matter.