MAUMELLE, Ark — During COVID-19, one thing that became a necessity for people working from home was high-speed internet.
Even before COVID, it's been an issue that Gov. Asa Hutchinson has tackled as he worked to improve outdated broadband access.
But imagine that work turning into a disaster right in your front yard. In one Maumelle neighborhood, that happened. People's lives have been thrown into chaos after workers hit several utility lines.
"They never let us know when they planned on being in our yard or even if our yard was going to be affected," said April Belcher, one of the homeowners in the Maumelle neighborhood.
"They drilled an electrical line knocking the power out to our houses in the cul-de-sac," said Belcher.
While fixing that problem, workers hit a gas line. A couple days later, there was sewage back up in the tubs and toilets.
"I'm very fearful something else is going to come up," said Belcher.
This isn't a unique issue in the Hightrail neighborhood in Maumelle.
Maumelle Mayor Caleb Norris said this neighborhood has experienced above average amounts of utility incidents.
Right now, the neighborhood is getting Comcast high-speed internet installed with fiber optic cables. Workers have to dig underground to place the wiring, which has caused an excessive amount of lines being hit.
"It's difficult because right now we're not so sure their own equipment is underground and then we are not so sure that the contractor is doing everything in their power to make sure they are not hitting utilities," said Norris.
As a THV11 crew observed the neighborhood, one house had a great amount of damage.
An underground line was marked with a blue flag and paint lines on the grass. A couple feet away from that were the water meters and places where workers dug. Comcast cones surrounded the disturbed earth.
A few feet from that was where the water line was hit, which flooded a nearby house.
"If you've ever been to the Big Dam Bridge down at the dam and saw the water gushing out like that-- that's the kind of force it had," said Cary McManus, a homeowner in Maumelle. "It blew a 10-foot hole in this guy's front yard, blew his retaining wall down, his whole driveway is sunken in and blew that away."
That contractor was Robert Cooper with Broadband Technical Resources.
We went to his business, but said he wasn't there when his workers hit the line. He did however see it later but did not want to talk to us on camera.
"For residents that this happens to or are getting the runaround from the utility [company], this is where the city gets to come in and we'll stop work, we'll stop them from doing projects while they go back and fix that," said Mayor Norris.
The City of Maumelle has stopped the permits to that area until this gets cleaned up and neighbors are hoping that happens soon.
"We're okay with fiber optic cables coming in. We're okay if we have to have a box in our yard, but put our stuff back the way it was," said McManus.
Central Arkansas Water has already started fixing the water lines and flooding in the neighborhood.
As for Comcast, they did provide a statement where they said:
“Earlier this week, a contractor performing work for Comcast inadvertently hit a water main in Maumelle. The contractor contacted Central Arkansas Water immediately and the water was shut off in about 30 minutes. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused some residents. Those who were impacted should contact Broadband Technical Resources’ business manager at 501.246.7817 to begin the claim process. The work being done is part of a network expansion that will bring Maumelle residents faster internet speeds and more advanced technology upon completion.”