Pipe burst floods Seattle addiction service center, closing doors to 1,300 in need

SEATTLE - Hundreds of people in Seattle who want to get over drug addiction now face another roadblock: a pipe burst in the Evergreen Treatment Services clinic, leaving the center unusable. 

Officials with the clinic said they got word the pipe burst on Sunday. Within 45 minutes, the clinic flooded, said Sean Soth, the director of health integration and innovation with Evergreen Treatment Services.

"We had 16 inches of standing water in our basement," said Soth. "You can see the water damage. The dropped ceilings have all collapsed."

Soth says they have no idea when they will be able to open their doors again for the Seattle clinic, because crews cannot safely get inside to assess the damage.

The clinic provides services to about 1300 people struggling with addiction.

"I came here because I was addicted to fentanyl, and I’m trying to get off of it. I got kids. I got a family. I’m trying to stop," said Travis Cary-Hamby.

Cary-Hamby showed up Thursday to the locked doors at the clinic. He relies on the medicine they provide to deal with his addiction.

He and dozens of others waited in the cold and rain outside the clinic, for a bus to the Evergreen Treatment Services’ Renton location.

"This population that’s already marginalized, already struggling to get the services they need, this is just one more barrier that makes it really difficult," said Soth.

For someone dealing with addiction, a small hurdle could be all it takes for them to use again.

"It clicked in my head, ‘Should I go on the bus, or should I go across the street [to use]?’ You know, but I’m going to get on the bus," said Cary-Hamby.

Cary-Hamby said for him, there is no choice anymore—he only has one option.

RELATED: As opioids devastate tribes in Washington state, tribal leaders push for added funding

"I want to be alive for my kids to grow up, and I want to have a family, like I didn’t have when I was growing up," said Cary-Hamby.

Soth says they do not know what the total cost of the damage to the clinic is yet, because crews cannot get inside to assess it, but it is going to be expensive.

Evergreen Treatment Services is asking for the community’s help to reopen its doors. For more information click here.