PORTLAND, Ore. -- Sewage seeped into several homes in a north Portland neighborhood this week, forcing residents to perform major clean-up work and demand help from the city.

Helga Grewell said she noticed sewage seeping into the basement of her North Russell Street home Tuesday.

"It came out of the drain and then I saw the shower was filled with black stuff," Grewell said. "I have to take care of it -- the sooner, the better -- because the germs are growing."

All five rooms of Grewell's basement were covered in sewage. Some of the rooms had up to three inches of sewage covering the floors. Grewell called in work crews from ServPlus to remove the sewage Wednesday night.

Two houses away, Kerren Findley said she encountered the same problem.

"It was all thick and black and it was coming out of the basement," Findley said. "The drains, the tub, the shower. It filled up my washing machine."

Findley said the sewage seeped in Saturday afternoon and her son took photos of the mess. Nearly every room in the basement was covered in sewage.

"About five inches all over the basement floor," Findley said. "Anything on the floor has to be thrown away."

Findley said her plumber found no problems on her end. She said she called city maintenance and crews found a break in a sewer line.

"It's a nightmare, but I was really surprised when I found out on Monday that it's almost all the houses on my street that have basements," Findley said.

Residents on Russell Street said they're hoping the city will pay for the damage.

"If the city doesn't own up to it, I'll get angry," Grewell said. "I will fight for it."

A phone call to the city's Bureau of Environmental Services was not returned Wednesday night. In the meantime, Russell Street homeowners said they were spending thousands of dollars to get the mess cleaned up.

Sewage Spills Into North Portland Homes