Residents in five apartments on Eastover Drive found themselves in a stinky situation Tuesday morning when a city sewer department crew attempting to clear a city sewer line tried to clean a private sewer line by mistake, causing raw sewage to back up and shoot into the apartments, damaging five of them.

The residents said the smelly flood occurred about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“It looked like a geyser coming out of the toilet,” said resident Lewis Williams of 110 Eastover. “The whole building shook and the toilet was lifted off the ground about this high (holding his hand about six inches off the ground).”

He held two fingers about 2 inches apart, adding, “The stuff was that deep in the apartment.”

“There was this rumble and I thought water was going to come through wall,” said Williams’ neighbor, Latasha Smith. “I thought the building was going to collapse.”

“My daughter called me while I was coming home from work and told me what happened,” Williams’ wife, Linda, said. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’” She said she called North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield’s office.

According to city records, Eastover, a dead end street that runs east off Lake Hill Drive, is not a city street. Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said the city maintains a manhole at the intersection of Lake Hill and Eastover, where a main city sewer line ends. Anything east of the intersection, he said, is private property. He added he had no idea why the unidentified city employee was trying to flush the private line.

“They should not have been there,” he said. “There was no reason for them to be there.”

The exact cause of the accident is under investigation, but several city officials said it occurred as the city’s vacuum truck was flushing the apartment complex line to remove a blockage using water under high pressure and a vacuum hose to collect debris.

Preliminary information indicated pressure built up by the flushing process was released as water line was being pulled from the cleanout, forcing the sewage back through the pipes and shoving the mess into the apartments.

The explosion scattered raw sewage in the apartments. In some, like the Williams’, the affluent spread into the hallway and laundry room, leaving a light brown-colored debris on the floors that was blocked by towels. The mess also covered dishes in the sink.

Linda Williams said the mess saturated sections of carpet in the hall and bedroom of her apartment. Smith said sections of carpet, her bathroom and laundry room/closet were affected, including her baby bag.

“I have a son on dialysis,” Linda Williams said, “he can’t stay here with that mess.”

Jack Rader, the apartment complex’s maintenance man, and Lewis said the truck comes to the area about every two months to clean the line. Rader said two upstairs apartments in a neighboring building had sewage in the tubs.

Sewer department superintendent Willie McCroy said James York, the city’s safety director was called about the problem and went to the apartments. York said a claim has been filed with the city’s insurance carrier, but did not know when an adjustor would visit the apartments or when repairs would begin.

Linda Williams said late Tuesday afternoon she had not seen an adjustor and the affected families had been moved to hotel rooms paid by the city. They will stay there until the repairs are completed, said South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson, who represents the area.