Public toilets smell awful enough, so it’s unthinkable to imagine that stench filling an entire house, but that’s exactly the reality for an unfortunate Texas family. Ricky Ibarra, who also goes by deathoflove on Reddit, says that countless gallons of raw sewage filled his home, making the property uninhabitable. If that wasn’t awful enough, the city is allegedly responsible but “not taking any liability.”
Posting to r/Wellthatsucks and r/homestudios, Ibarra said “sewage came up from the toilets nonstop for what could have been days” while his family was out on vacation. The sewer waste destroyed all of his family’s belongings, including his personal musical studio. OP added that his insurance has done nothing to help.
As one could imagine, the smell is awful; “I wear an n-95 mask every time I have had to go in,” Ibarra wrote. “Psychologically I could never recover from this,” remarked a shocked commenter. Even though the city allegedly isn’t taking accountability, this Texan father isn’t letting them off the hook that easily.
A News Outlet Shared the City’s Response to the Accusation
Ibarra reached out to NBC 5 DFW in hopes of “applying pressure to the city so they can cover the damages.” According to the news outlet’s report, the city of Arlington claims it “cannot always control what is introduced into the sewer system and clogs that affect private residences can be the result of these non-flushables.”
Officials made this claim even though Ibarra says city workers told the homeowner the sewage problem stemmed from the “city line.” Needless to say, countless people are siding with Ibarra, with almost $10K having been raised on the family’s fundraiser, as of writing.
“NAL but that’s enough damage for people to be deflecting liability. You need to lawyer up big time,“ suggested a Redditor. “If the city is responsible, they need to pay up,” chimed in another. Several even recommended Ibarra make a song out of the situation for more publicity, considering he’s a musician.
In the end, regardless of how much support this Texas family receives, this tragic incident is certainly a turning point in their lives in the worst way. As Ibarra puts it, “Everyday I wake up and not sure what I’m gonna do. Not only my studio flooded, my entire house is uninhabitable.”
