ST. LOUIS – The You Paid For It team comes to the aid of a U.S. Marine Corps. veteran in North St. Louis whose house was flooded by a water main break.

Cornelius Higgins’ basement is ruined after a recent water main break, yet the city issued a statement saying, “After an investigation into Mr. Higgins claim, investigators determined the City is not responsible for the damages and provided Mr. Higgins with that information.”

Higgins says it’s just not fair. His basement was finished, but that was before two feet of sewage flooded it in June. The water main break somehow damaged MSD’s line. Higgins can’t believe it.

”The situation now is, after the water damage, no one wants to take responsibility for it,” he said. “The water department denied me. The sewer department gave me a number to call, but nobody ever answered. I’ve been calling every day for going on three months now and still haven’t heard anything from anybody, so I’m stuck in the middle.”

Elliott Davis talked to the spokesperson for MSD and that agency pointed the finger at the City.

MSD Spokesperson Bess McCoy said, “Our investigation is that it seems like the damages were caused by the city water main repair, but it’s not our place to place responsibility. We can’t speak to the city’s waters policy or how they handle these situations.”

“What I can say is MSD did not cause these damages or this backup. This was a situation where the waste water sewer in this neighborhood was overwhelmed after another utility made repairs and damaged the wastewater sewer system.”

Meanwhile, Higgins is just waiting and hoping something comes through for him. We covered his situation just after the flooding in June. The City has done nothing to help in all that time. That leaves Higgins frustrated.

“It feels like not only the city, but everybody is letting me down,” he said. “Nobody’s coming and giving me any kind of aid, advice, or how to get this done. Evidently, the city won’t help unless you put pressure on it, and I’m pretty sure you will. Maybe I’ll get something done right now. I feel left out.”

He says he’s tried to reach his alderwoman, Laura Keys, but hasn’t gotten much help from her. Elliott Davis called her several times, but she never called me back.