DETROIT (WXYZ) — As remediation crews clear out basements along her street, Christine Spears could only look on in sadness. Today, the City of Detroit said it expects to have cleared out and cleaned about 40 basements by the end of the day.
"This is people's memories. This is people's lives," Spears said tearfully.
"I have so much that I've added for all these years that got destroyed in the basement. Like I said, and I'm going to watch them take my memories out and just throw 'em it in the trash," she explained.
Spears said the ruined belongings from her basement included sentimental items that belonged to her children and grandchildren.
Spears' neighbor and displaced resident, Airiyanna Gonzalez, said, "We're honestly ready to come home, get our house back together. It's a big inconvenience."
Gonzalez has been staying in a hotel in Southfield. It's a room provided by the city. She said she takes an Uber every day to get to work in Southwest Detroit. That transportation is also paid for by the city.
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Gonzalez stopped by to check on her home in the morning and said city inspectors knocked on her door to take pictures as she waits her turn for cleanup.
"It's a process, obviously, but I feel like they could go faster. For them to tell us that they don't know when they're gonna be done or for it to be three days to five days, to three weeks up to six weeks. It shouldn't be that," she said.
Gonzalez added, "They should be out here going faster and doing what they need to do to get people back in their house."
Monday afternoon, Crystal Perkins with the Detroit General Services Department gave an update.
"We are actually working very hard to get residents back into their homes as soon as possible," Perkins said.
She said by the end of the day, crews will have cleared, cleaned and sanitized about 40 basements and that they're working in sync with property owners.
"People are still living their daily lives. Most children went back to school this week. People are working. So, we're working around their schedule," she explained.
Perkins said, "We got to get them from the hotel, people who are not currently — decided to leave their home and come to the hotel — we're working to get them back to the site so we can get in, work with them so they can identify exactly what they want us to take out because you gotta think about it, there's keepsakes and memorabilia that people may try to save."
About 398 homes were impacted, according to the city.
Spears said, "It's just too much for me. I don't know what to do anymore. I sit and cry constantly."
7 News Detroit provided Spears with a mental health resource, the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. The 24-hour hotline number is 1-800-241-4949.
The city said contractors will start making repairs and installing appliances mid-week. However, first, they want to have an adequate number of basements cleared and cleaned so they can do one repair and installation after another without delay.
