HOUSTON – Imagine having to go to a nearby restaurant every time you have to go to the bathroom. That's what one man living near the Texas Medical Center is having to do right now because of a sewer backup in his neighborhood.
Charles Shields has been having sewer problems at his home since Thanksgiving. He's been having to go to the bathroom at nearby fast food restaurants.
At times, Charles hasn't been able to bathe, use toilets, cook or wash dishes. It's been on and off, but during the times it's not working, he has to walk all the way to a Taco Bell to use the restroom.
Charles told us, "The neighbors on both sides here knew they couldn't flush toilets, use water, bathe, can't do laundry. We just shut down for a few days."
At one point, Charles says, there was raw sewage in the back yards of multiple homes on Maroneal in the Med Center. He says the recent rain has washed it all away. He says he's called the city's public works department many times.
"We're six days into waiting for the city to come solve this problem, living in Third World country conditions," said Charles.
The city sent a contractor out Monday to finally find the problem. The crew ran a camera through the line and found a sewer main collapse. Now it's up to the city to fix the collapse.
It's a smelly problem that's been more than just a headache for Charles. His wife, who is a physician, is worried that the raw sewage could cause a disease outbreak like cholera because people walk through that area on the way to their jobs at the Medical Center.