A woman shows catastrophic damage to her mother’s home weeks after historic floods swept through Milwaukee. Now, viewers are urging her to leave the property to avoid another potential tragedy.
In a video with over 1.7 million views, TikToker Kate (@katertot07) stands outside the home.
“This is the wall,” she says, gesturing to the siding of the house. “It’s supposed to go all the way down.” However, the bottom of the house caves into the underground basement.
She points the camera into the basement, where the back wall of the foundation has toppled over. Debris surrounds storage bins and laundry appliances.
“I can literally see into the basement [from the outside],” she says.
Is the house safe to live in after the floods?
In another video, Kate goes into the basement to show the collapsed wall. Behind the toppled cinder block foundation, roots from a nearby tree poke through the dirt.
Kate’s family is just one of thousands impacted by the recent flood, which reached basement levels of 35 inches in some homes, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Around 12,000 Milwaukee area callers requested assistance for flood-related damage via 211, a social services referral organization.
In the comments of Kate’s TikTok, viewers urge her to stay out of the house until the foundation is repaired.
“I would get out of there before the house falls. SERIOUSLY,” one writes.
“That has to be dangerous. How can you be in there?!?” another asks.
“You know in the horror movies when you a screaming at the screen, ‘don’t go into the basement!’? Yeah, that. Please,” a third jokes.
In the meantime, Kate says they have placed several house jacks in the basement to support the weight and prevent further collapse.
Can the home’s foundation be repaired?
Kate shares her mother’s GoFundMe, which has a goal of raising $3,500. In the description, she explains that she did not have flood insurance, so the damage will need to be covered out-of-pocket.
“My family and I have been trying to clean out the entire basement and house because we can no longer live in it for now,” her mother writes. “Divorced mom of three on disability for back problems. I’ve had five back surgeries, and I just don’t have the money to fix this.”
In the comments, other viewers share their experience with similar repairs.
“This happened to my parents’ house in Michigan a few years ago. They HAD insurance, and coverage was denied. Ended up costing them over $10k to have it fixed. It was awful! Good luck!” a commenter writes.
“This happened to us, we had to dig the side out and run a new sewer line and put a whole new block side in with some sturdy support rods…not cheap!!!” another says.
@katertot07 $Helpmomshouse #milwaukee #viral #trendingvideo #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #constructionlife ♬ original sound – Kate
The Mary Sue reached out to Kate for further comment.
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