PHOENIX — Call it bad luck or being at the wrong place at the wrong time; it all applies to what the Bateman family went through over the weekend.
"It was crazy," Lindsay Bateman said.
She and her family have lived in Laveen for 19 years. Then on Friday night, she noticed water leaking in the street right in front of her home.
"I called the city of Phoenix, and I reported a water main leak, and they said they would come out on Monday,” Lindsay said.
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She also told them that they should arrive sooner. While the leak wasn't severe, she said it didn't look good either. However, she claims the City once again told her they would be out to fix the problem on Monday.
Then just a few hours later after the Bateman family went to bed, Lindsay Bateman said they were woken up by what sounded like a roar.
"I knew exactly what it was," Lindsay Bateman said.
The water main leak turned into what looked like a geyser- shooting water and debris directly at the Bateman home. Andrew Bateman said it shattered windows on the first and second floor of the home.
"There was rock and broken glass and asphalt flying in," Andrew Bateman said.
The family rushed into the rooms to save what they could, but with debris coming in along with all the water, they had to be careful.
"We were just soaking wet," Lindsay Bateman said.
This went on for a little less than two hours the Batemans said until a worker with the city came out and turned off the water. However, both the top and bottom floors were flooded.
"There's no room in the house that wasn't impacted," Lindsay Bateman said.
At this time, she still doesn't know what was lost in the flood but said the home is in unlivable condition.
Nearly all the carpet and tile removed, parts of the ceiling has been torn out along with some walls to prevent mold. Lindsay said they were told the restoration process could take 90 days to complete.
"It's incredibly stressful, like we both work full time, and this seems like a new full time job that I have trying to figure out everything," she said.
In the meantime they are hoping to get a rental home to stay end by next week. The Batemans said they are grateful to the City of Phoenix for stepping in and helping with the restoration process. She also said they've not gotten their home insurance involved.
"The adjusters for the City of Phoenix came out the next day, and they've set things up for me, and they're working on getting us a place to stay in the meantime," Lindsay Bateman said.
A spokesperson for the City of Phoenix confirmed it was a water main break that happened early Saturday morning and damaged the Bateman's home. They said when water infrastructure fails and creates property damage, protocol involved contacting the Water Services Department's on-call risk management team to start the restoration and clean-up process as soon as possible.
When asked about what caused the break, the official said it was a natural break which means there could be several reasons why it happened including weak pipe sections or environmental conditions.
Days after going through this situation and knowing they still have a long way to go, both Andrew and Lindsay are trying to stay positive. At the same time, Lindsay wishes she fought a little harder to get the city out and fix the leak before getting into the mess they're dealing with now.
"If I could go back and do it over again, I would have not accepted, 'we'll come out on Monday", Lindsay Bateman said. "I would have just kept calling until they came out, not waited till it destroyed my house."
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