Coram Man Claims Water Main Break Caused $25k In Damage To His Basement

CORAM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island man claims a water main break caused $25,000 worth of damage to his finished basement and now no one is taking responsibility.

Jack Carone said construction is ongoing in the basement of his Coram home following a water main break on Nov. 4.

Carone said because the valve was paved over, the Suffolk County Water Authority was unable to shut off the main, leaving water filling his basement for four hours, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.

"Fortunately my neighbors were around, they came here, they gave me 20-feet of hose, we stuck it in the driveway and it started pumping out," Carone said.

But the damage was already done.

"The Sheetrock got damaged, my son's Nintendo games, his speakers, his furniture, the kitchen cabinet," Carone said.

Carone is planning to sue because the SCWA's insurance company and the Town of Brookhaven will not help pay the hefty cost to fix the basement.

"I guess I more or less blame the water authority for not inspecting the job when it got done," Carone said. " If they would've done that they would've found that they covered over not one, but every shut off valve on this block."

In a statement, the SCWA said, "As this is a case that may result in litigation, SCWA will not comment on it specifically. However, SCWA has won similar cases in the past, as courts have determined that water suppliers are not insurers of their water systems and cannot be held liable unless it is shown that damage was caused by negligence in the maintenance of the system. We have an obligation to our nearly 400,000 ratepayers to handle such situations consistently."

The town did not return a request for comment.