KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A broken sewer line in Kissimmee is affecting several residents in Osceola County.
- Sewage spill contained in Kissimmee
- Resident: "The water was creeping into my home"
- Toho Water advises residents to follow same practices used following a hurricane event
While the sewage spill is now contained, residents are still dealing with the clean up.
Eighty-three-year-old Manuel Henriquez has lived at Osceola Park Estates for 20 years but has never had to deal with water encroaching his home.
In Spanish, he told Spectrum News 13, "I got scared because the water was creeping into my home."
A spokesperson with Toho Water said a sewage spill, along with the recent rainfall, sent potentially contaminated water into the yards along Eola Circle, next to where the break occurred.
While most of the water has already been cleared out, some residents expressed there is a lingering sewage smell.
"I am asthmatic and have felt extra fatigued lately," Henriquez said.
Toho Water said that the sewer line break happened near the South Bermuda Water Reclamation Facility, which may have caused raw sewage to make its way into nearby bodies of water.
Crews have been on site helping to recover spilled material.
Toho Water said the break has been repaired, and the sewer system is returning to full, normal operations.
The agency said restoration includes rinsing affected areas, application of lime, and additional cleaning activities, depending on the house.
Henriquez said he hopes this does not happen again.
"Make sure to find out the exact problem and solve it permanently, so we don't have to go through this again," he said.
Toho Water wants residents to know the potable water system was not affected, and there is no precautionary boil water notice in effect.
However, Toho Water believes residents should avoid contact with impacted areas and generally follow the same practices used following a hurricane event.