Like many Seattle residents, Sid and Hilda Andrews lost something during last December's record rainstorm. A foot and a half of raw sewage bubbled up into the basement of their North Seattle home before they were able to start pumping it out. When the rain stopped, Sid Andrews, 82, found his officeâalong with the furniture in the couple's finished basementâdestroyed.
One of the most upsetting losses, Andrews says, was in three large freezers tucked away in his basement. According to Andrews, when the freezers fizzled and died, he lost nearly $700 worth of food meant for local shelters and food banks.
Since the end of World War II, Andrews, a former medical corpsman stationed in the South Pacific, has worked to support his fellow veterans. In recent years, much of that work has been done through his website, fallen-brothers.org. The Andrewses drive all over townâsometimes as far as Issaquah or Rentonâpicking up and dropping off supplies at area food banks and shelters, to help serve the veterans, the homeless, and the needy.
Andrews, who is on a fixed income, filed a damage claim with the city in January, seeking reimbursement for the damage done to his home and the food he lost. "[The flooding] was due to poor maintenance by the city," he says. However, the claim remains unresolved, and Andrews is starting to worry. That may be for good reason: Some of his neighbors have already received rejection letters from the city.
Residents filed 245 damage claims with the city following the December 2007 rainstorm. The city has described the stormâwhich dropped five inches of rain on North Seattle in 24 hoursâas an act of God that overwhelmed the city's infrastructure. So far, only 12 claims have been approved while 80 have been denied; the city is still investigating the remaining 153 cases.
Ted Lockhart lives just four houses up from the Andrewses. During the storm, Lockhart's basement filled with five inches of rainwater, and he filed a claim with the city. In February, Lockhart received a letter from the city's finance department denying responsibility for any flooding.
"Seattle's sewer system was built to handle this constant type of drizzle we have here," says Bruce Hori, the city's director of risk management. "Beyond that, it's an act of nature or an act of God. We can't guarantee that everybody is going to be water-free. I wish we could, but that would cost billions of dollars."
The city is still investigating a number of claims, and Hori says it's likely more claims will be approved. Still, Andrews is getting restless. He says some residents have talked about filing a class action lawsuit, but he'd prefer to resolve his claim directly with the city.
"I want the city to replace the food for the homeless and needy [that we lost]," he says. "[I don't want to] have to hire an attorney." 
