INDIANAPOLIS — Many streets flooded after relentless storms and constant rain this past weekend, and many homeowners are still dealing with the aftermath of flooded homes.
With more rain in the forecast this week, these people are nervous their homes are going to flood again. Take a look at the pictures taken just this past weekend in the media player above.
Amy Ann went down her stairs when she heard her cat meow, which immediately gave away that something was wrong. She immediately yelled, there was water everywhere.
"It just came up out of nowhere," Ann said. "Yeah, it's definitely been a headache."
Ben Wencke and his girlfriend's basement had flooded as well. They say it was about two-and-a-half inches deep.
Wencke says it happened in less than 30 minutes, but now, more than 24 hours later, their de-humidifiers are still working around the clock.
"We were surprised our internal French drain system, and sump pump hadn't taken care of it," Wencke said. "That's when we realized it came up through the drains in the floor."
Their floor drain is connected directly to the city sewer system, so when the streets outside their home flooded, so did theirs.
"I don't feel like as a homeowner I should have to worry about stormwater coming up through my drains," Wencke said.
Not just their home was impacted by this neighborhood flood.
"Neighbors cars flooded. Our basement had water. Our neighbor's basement had raw sewage," Brad Bevington, who has lived in the area for 23 years, said. "It's an issue, and it can be costly."
After looking into the issue Monday, RTV6 found out it's Citizens Energy Group's responsibility.
A sewer maintenance crew went out to the area on Sunday to investigate, and determined there was no blockage, but that the sewers were overfilled and couldn't keep up over the weekend. However, the drains performed "as expected."
Citizens Energy says to avoid backups like this, talk to a plumber about installing a backwater valve to prevent water from entering your home.
Wencke says that's not a good enough response by Citizens Energy.
"I don't think it's good enough because the neighbors have done that and it just moves down the street," Wencke said. "The next neighbor has a problem, and the next neighbor has a problem. Until everyone knows that that has to be installed, and it's an expensive installation too, it will continue to be a problem."
If this happens to your homes, you can call Citizens Energy's Call Center at 317-924-3311. It will be investigated and may send a sewer maintenance crew out if needed.
