- Matthew Mutammara's Brooklyn apartment flooded Friday after record-setting rain hit New York City.
- Mutammara said water was pouring in from his ceiling lights and rushing in through the front door.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matthew Mutammara, a resident of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, whose apartment flooded on September 29 as New York City experienced record rainfall. It's been edited for length and clarity.
On Friday morning, my girlfriend and I woke up to quite the sight: Water leaking through ceiling light fixtures, rainwater rushing in through my front door, sewer drainage backing up into our bathtub, and 3 inches of standing water in our basement.
I sent videos of the damage to my brother, who then posted them to TikTok.
The flooding is thanks to a heavy rainstorm that hit New York City on Friday morning and caused mass flooding throughout the region. But this wasn't the first time I've dealt with rainwater flooding my apartment — it flooded as a result of rain just four months ago, too.
Bailing out water from the apartment was a lost cause
We moved as many electronic devices and pieces of furniture as we could. And we locked our cat in our bedroom so he'd be safe from the water.
Two of our laptops got hit with water directly, along with rugs and desks that may have to be thrown away. We probably got to our TV in time, but many of our items are fairly damaged.
We tried shoveling pots of water into our toilet, but then, after a while, it just became like we were shoveling water out of a pool. It wasn't going to change much. Now, we have to just wait for the neighborhood's water system to process everything before water drains out of the basement.
I contacted our building super, but no one can come to help us since the streets are still flooded — which is understandable.
But I'm not super hopeful our landlord will do much for us, considering what happened the last time our unit flooded.
This isn't the first time my NYC apartment flooded
The last time our apartment flooded was in May. It was also because of heavy rain, but it was nowhere near as bad as what New York City is seeing right now. We've lived in this apartment for less than 10 months, and now our apartment has flooded twice.
We didn't get much help from the landlord at the time. He sent the building super with a mop and then two hired cleaners equipped with soap. Ultimately, my girlfriend and I had to clean up the floodwater ourselves.
Our neighbor's unit has now also flooded twice. I spoke to them after my girlfriend and I discovered the damage in our apartment Friday morning. They told us they're canceling their lease — which they just re-signed last month — because they can't keep going through floods like this.
I have a steady job and live in a safe building. But not everyone has those privileges.
When Hurricane Ida happened two years ago, there were lots of people — specifically people of Asian descent — living in basements that were not designed to be living spaces. But landlords sold the spaces anyway despite the safety hazards.
And many people died in the flooding caused by Ida because they did not have safe housing.
At the end of the day, my girlfriend and I have the privilege of steady jobs and living in a Williamsburg apartment. This flooding is bad and gross, but we're going to be fine.