CINCINNATI — Barbara Dixon spent all night Thursday and all day Friday pumping gallon after gallon of clear water out of her basement and into the street-side storm drain in her Kennedy Heights cul-de-sac as heavy rains battered the Tri-State.
Her family has owned the home for more than 60 years, and one month ago the water started flowing from a basement floor drain in an amount she'd never seen before.
"In the last month I've had two feet, then four feet," she said.
She hadn't been able to measure this latest flood as the pump worked around the clock.
#NOW: Outflow from Winton Lake is causing high water under the bridge at the intersection of West Park Dr. and Miles Rd.Engineers are closing Miles Rd. as I type this.Find alternate routes.@WCPO pic.twitter.com/3NGCnqsHRf
— Sean DeLancey (@SeanDeLanceyTV) March 24, 2023
The 4-foot flood she measured in early March, on the other hand, took an unmeasurable amount from her family history.
Dixon's living room was covered with ruined photos, family heirlooms and more with pictures, cards and other precious items stuffed under couch cushions with the hope they'd flatten into something presentable.
One photo under a cushion was particularly painful for Dixon to view.
"This is my grandson that I've lost," she said while pulling the small picture from under the sofa cushion.
Dixon said young Maxwell's yearbook was destroyed in the second flood and had to be thrown out.
"There were pictures in the drawer, and when I pulled it out it was all molded," she said.
Dixon said she hasn't been able to identify the root cause of the back-up despite assistance from city storm water management investigators.
In a statement, city officials said off-road sewers occasionally aren't kept in city records, which Dixon believes has contributed to the confusion. The statement continued to say that, historically, many off-road sewers were built privately and remain privately owned.
As the investigation continues, Dixon said she's using her retirement account to pay for thousands in repairs to the basement, including multiple furnaces, a dryer, a refrigerator and more.
"We've had water before, because it's a basement, and it's under the house where it used to be a garage, but nothing," she said. "Nothing like these last two times, and every time it rains, I'm nervous."
Dixon said investigators were back on her property Friday morning, and they've pledged to continue searching for the source of the problem.
She has hired a plumber to search for a private solution to the issue in the meantime.
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