After a heavy rainstorm on the evening of July 21st, the underground parking lot in the Mudan District of the Hedong City in Shandong Province turned into a “pool nation”. Dozens of cars were submerged and declared useless, resulting in heavy financial losses for the owners who sought answers from the property management but to no avail.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media, in the early hours of July 21st, Shandong Hedong was hit by a sudden heavy rainstorm, causing flash flooding on several streets and leading to many vehicles being submerged. A local resident, Mr. Zheng, stated that the downpour resulted in the flooding of the parking garage in the residential community to a depth of about one meter.
Among the affected areas was the Ludi Zhongyue residential community, where the underground three-story parking lot was submerged up to the second level. An owner named Li Yan (pseudonym) expressed to a reporter that the heavy rain caught everyone off guard as it only lasted for about two hours. Residents believe it was a problem with the city’s drainage system, as streets were flooded, and there were reports of fatalities in the nearby Triangle Garden residential community.
Li revealed that besides the severe flooding of the underground garage, another reason was the collapse of a nearby wall due to the force of the water, allowing the floodwaters to directly pour into the underground parking lot.
The property management was unaware of the flooding in the parking garage until around 5 a.m. when owners started calling them. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until after 6 a.m. that the management notified the owners to move their vehicles downstairs.
Upon inspecting the garage, Li Yan and other owners found that over thirty cars were completely submerged, making it impossible to relocate the vehicles due to water reaching the negative second level. Despite owners’ attempts to contact the property management and local city authorities through the 12345 hotline, their calls went unanswered.
After the garage was flooded, the property management failed to take action. Even until the fourth day, they had not utilized water pumps to drain the water. It wasn’t until owners called the fire department that the property management finally took action. Police officers were also present, but according to Li, they were harsh towards the owners, preventing any potential disturbances.
Following the storm, the elevators were out of service, causing inconvenience to the residents living in the twenty-plus-story building as they were unable to go down. Li Yan shared stories of significant losses, such as a BMW valued at 300,000 RMB that was only a year old, and another vehicle that reportedly held items worth 100,000 RMB.
Owners have been demanding accountability from the property management, gathering at the entrance of the parking garage to seek compensation for the damages incurred, including the cost of dealing with the submerged vehicles, processing insurance claims, arranging for repairs, and possibly purchasing new vehicles, all of which have caused significant financial and time burdens.
Li Yan disclosed that the property management claimed that for vehicles with damage insurance, the insurance company would compensate the owners first, and then the management would negotiate with the insurance company for reimbursement. However, for owners without damage insurance, an evaluation would be conducted to determine the compensation amount.
She expressed dissatisfaction with the property management’s handling of the situation, indicating their lack of proactive response throughout the incident. Owners’ frustration was further fueled by the fact that despite paying monthly parking management fees, the submerged vehicles were left unattended for four days without any water pumping activities undertaken by the property management.
When the Epoch Times reporter inquired about the management’s response to the situation through customer service, they received no reply.