City won't pay for damages after water main break floods Irving apartments

Residents of an Irving apartment complex flooded after a water main broke say they're outraged after being told by the city to submit claims for the damage and then it denied to cover any costs.

A week after that water main broke, residents say the city is refusing to do what's right and pay for repairs and replace ruined belongings.

Lecreta Jones' life turned upside down after the water main connected to a nearby water tower suddenly broke last Wednesday. Jones' neighbor shot video as 2 million gallons of water rushed into the Newport Apartments.

Once the water receded, six units were left soaked and several vehicles were left caked in mud and inoperable.

A car owner says she lost her job because she didn't have transportation.

“We didn't tamper with nothing. We didn't do nothing,” said Jones. “We were standing on our porch and all of a sudden we see this flood.”

Jones says they filed claims, as the city instructed. Then they received a letter saying, “The city of Irving must respectfully deny your claim.”

“I mean that's depressing,” Jones said.

The letter says that because city personnel were not actively working on the water main causing it to break, then the city is not responsible for any damages that occurred.

Tondolyn Miller says she's grateful her van still works after floating debris put a gash on the side but hopes the city of Irving would be a more responsible neighbor.

“We don't necessarily care if there was somebody working there or not. The point is that it broke,” said Miller. “Nobody is trying to get rich. They just want their property to be restored.”