JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nearly a year after a JEA meter replacement led to a flood of problems inside a Jacksonville woman’s home, she still can’t live there and is running out of money to fix it.
Theresa Graham says she’s stuck in the middle of bureaucracy and red tape.
Graham says she’s homeless, working up to 14 hours a day to keep paying for a house she still can’t live in.
Right now, the biggest roadblock is who pays to finish the repairs.
“There was mold in there,” Graham said.
It all started after last September’s house flood.
“The water was pouring out, we started pulling buckets, towels, the water was flooding from the second floor to the first floor. It came through the walls,” Graham said.
Nearly a year later, the water is gone.
But her problems haven’t evaporated.
“Now I have a claim with the city of Jacksonville,” Graham said.
Graham says she feels like she’s drowning in bills and uncertainty.
“I’m in a hotel. I’m back in Florida this week. Because I can’t stay here. There’s no kitchen. There’s no bathrooms,” Graham said.
Everywhere you look, there’s more damage. Even the plastic covering on the bathroom floor now almost looks like a skylight. Except this is anything but a view she asked for.
Graham says it all started after JEA replaced her water meter, without warning, last September.
“When I came in the house, the ceilings were falling,” Graham said.
Graham claims she was later told by a JEA manager the meter installation was the cause.
“The manager (of JEA) came to my house and checked the meter and confirmed it. Said it’s our fault. We didn’t backflow properly,” Graham said.
Now she feels she’s caught in the middle with the city, JEA and her insurance company, all passing responsibility.
According to her, Frontline, her insurance company, told Graham it was no longer paying for additional housing because it was taking too long, she said.
Graham said she then talked to JEA and the city of Jacksonville about getting housing.
“No,” Graham said they told her.
When Action News Jax asked JEA for a status update, the utility said the claim is active with the City of Jacksonville.
JEA said general liability claims against the utility are reviewed and administered by the City of Jacksonville’s Risk Management Division, not JEA.
When Action News Jax followed up with the city and asked if it takes responsibility and what’s holding things up, a spokesperson said, “We await a reply from the homeowner’s insurance carrier.”
The city also said the claim is active and that it does not comment on liability and damages on active claims.
Action News Jax reached out to Frontline as well but did not hear back.
Graham says it’ll cost $114,000 more dollars to rebuild.
And she’d like to do that.
After all, she’s still paying a monthly $2,400 mortgage on a house she cannot live in.
To support Theresa Graham’s recovery from the home flood, click here to donate.
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