CHESTERFIELD TWP. MICH. (WXYZ) — A Chesterfield Township man is evacuating his home along a canal after water from Lake St. Clair came over his seawall. The damage is now threatening his family’s livelihood.
Paul Belbot has lived in his home for the past four years. He says this is the first time he’s seen flooding this bad. Now he’s forced to pack up and leave. He says it’s the lot next to his home that’s causing all the problems.
"I can’t guarantee their safety to the point we have to leave," Belbot said.
He said he's trying to save his home along a canal in Chesterfield Township from flooding.
"Someone has to have the authority to come in and say look, we’re going to lay sandbags down 30 feet of property and make a barrier," Belbot said.
He says the flooding started in May after a major storm, and has continuously gotten worse ever since.
"I am fighting this one and then I am getting flanked on this side," Blebot said.
He added that he has put 1,500 sandbags or maybe even more around his home and is running seven pumps. Now he doesn’t have power and water is in his crawl space. He says this problem could have been averted.
"We have a property that didn’t sandbag," Belbot said. "They haven’t done anything to try and prevent this. No barriers means more water coming in and as you can see they don’t have a sea wall."
He says he contacted the city about the problem but was told their hands are tied.
"They basically said cause it’s private property there is nothing they can do," Belbot said.
Action News called Chesterfield Township, but haven’t heard back. Belbot says he has insurance but says he’s still waiting to hear what is covered and what isn’t. He’s just hoping he can salvage what’s left of his home, but with water levels expected to continue to go up, he’s trying to stay hopeful.
"We’ve actually been trying to battle to save our home and try and stay here and try to help our neighbors," Belbot said
He says he’s spent about $5,000 trying to take care of this problem. He’s just hoping he can get some help before everything is lost.
