Along Lake Susan and Chanhassen Hills drives, residents learned that something was terribly wrong in their homes Wednesday night when a geyser of sewage began spewing from toilets on the lower levels.
For Amy Powell and her husband, Carlos Puig, the ensuing mess, caused by a broken water main, ruined the last chapter of a seven-year remodeling effort. As much as 3 inches of sewage had covered the floor of their split-level home. On Thursday, rolls of ruined carpet were heaped in the snow next to their driveway.
It was much worse across the street at Shari Hoeft's house. Her driveway sported a big blue dumpster, and it was filling up fast as clean-up crews tore apart her previously finished basement. Their tracking in and out all morning had them on their second set of tarps stretching from the front door to the basement steps.
The night before, Hoeft heard a rushing sound, opened her basement door and looked down the stairs to "3 feet of poop" on the floor, she said. Two of her three daughters had their bedrooms down there and lost many of their belongings.
By the time Chanhassen officials got the water shut off and assessed the damage, about 18 homes in the neighborhood had suffered flooded basements. An 8-inch water main had ruptured, sending thousands of gallons of water gushing into sewer lines and causing the backups.
Paul Oehme, city engineer and public works director, said it's highly unusual for a water main break to flood sewer lines.
Crews found the cause: "Soil in that area moved and cracked the pipe and that made the rupture," he said. The water main was repaired, the hole backfilled, and water restored to about 30 homes early Thursday afternoon, Oehme said.
Earlier, Hoeft, in her kitchen with her mother, Norma, pointed to a TV set, a 2009 Chaska High School yearbook and some children's photos on the floor, salvaged from the basement. Eventually it became pointless to grab more, she said.
