When his new property flooded, Belleville man opted to have ‘a little harmless fun’

What would you do if the property you purchased flooded within 24 hours of finalizing the paperwork?

Daniel Green, of Belleville, got out his jet ski.

“In the beginning, I was pretty upset, because that property doesn’t flood like that,” Daniel Green said. “Because the city doesn’t have adequate storm drainage systems, the water affected our property.”

Green at first bought water pumps and sandbagged around his new West Monroe Street property, but when the water from Richland Creek started rising, he gave up trying to stop it.

“I said, ‘It is what it is, there’s nothing you can do about it,’” he said. “I’ve got my jet skis here and everyone’s watching this place flood, so I saw an opportunity to jump on it and start ripping it up on my property.

“When you’re faced with adversity, there’s always an opportunity to have a little bit of harmless fun. I wish the whole neighborhood could’ve come out to ride the jet ski.”

Green said “95% of the neighbors” loved watching him ride his jet ski. The remaining “5%” called the police on him.

“They said the waves I was creating with the jet ski were splashing on their house,” he said. “I never left my property, but it could have happened.”

He got away with just a warning, he said. Belleville ordinance makes no provisions for jet skiing in town, “being that it is such a rare circumstance when it could occur,” Assistant Police Chief Mark Heffernan said in an email. Though Green could be held liable for any damage he caused with the jet ski, Heffernan added.

Green said he wanted to apologize to the City of Belleville for “utilizing their police services” because he was “out having fun.”

“It was a non-critical issue, and there were other issues they were going to handle (during the flooding),” Green said. “Those services could have been used elsewhere.”

Green had just closed on the property Monday, and he said it took on 8 inches of water.

“The whole building was flooded,” he said.

Currently, Green is in Florida. He said the trip was not sudden, but was planned prior to the flooding.

“I was there on Monday to sign the paperwork (on the property), and I left for Florida on Wednesday,” Green said. “Unfortunately, on Tuesday we saw the issues with the property.”

A video was posted on Facebook by Ryan Hoefler, who lives in Belleville, and promptly garnered 190,000 views on Instagram Reels.

“The neighbors loved it and the whole internet loved it,” Green said.